Naruto: Playing The Game
by zapisthename
Summary: As a kid, he had no one to play with. Now, he's playing life as if it's a game. There's just one problem, there might be no redo's if he fails. Naruto with The Gamer elements mixed in. No pairings as of now, rated M for language. Videogame! Naruto.
1. Prologue: Start Game

**Yeah, new fic, I know. I don't know what happens to me but this idea was bugging me and I was determined to write it. This fic will have elements from the Korean Manga (Gamer, which is interesting as a concept, and something you should read) **

**If you have ideas, do tell.**

* * *

**Naruto: Playing The Game**

**Summary: As a kid, he had no one to play with. Now, he's playing life as if it's a game. There's just one problem, there might be no redo's if he fails. Naruto with The Gamer elements mixed in. No pairings as of now, rated M for language. **

* * *

"I hate myself" Naruto said to no one in particular as he looked at the status screen in front of him. "I fucking hate myself" Maybe someone with parents and someone of his age was taught not to swear, but Naruto wasn't one with parents, an orphan, who grew up all alone, looking for people to play with.

"I am Kami's plaything aren't I?" Naruto said, staring at the blue screen in front of him.

**Naruto Uzumaki, The Gamer**

**Level 2**

**Status(es): **

**Prankster Child: You are the devil himself when it comes to prank, a constant headache to the neighborhood, it would be endearing, if anyone loved it. +5 to DEX, 10% Faster Leveling of Stealth, Trap and Crafting Skills.**

**The Pariah: For whatever reason, no one likes you. Slower Reputation Gain, -100% to Social Skills**

**Chakra Tank: You have lots of Chakra, don't misuse it. +10 VIT for every level gain**

**Unhealthy Eater: Wow, your eating habits suck. -15 VIT**

**?: + 150 VIT **

**?: 100% faster leveling of Fuuinjutsu.**

"What the hell?" Naruto shouted, it was early in the morning and there was no doubt in his mind that he was going to wake up some of his neighbors, and they were not going to be happy. He was happy about the Chakra Tank, but not happy about the Pariah status, and what the hell was up with the two question marks?

"I need HELP" Naruto shouted.

**"Start Tutorial?"**

Naruto stared at the yes and no question in front of him. He selected yes.

**"Congratulations, you have successfully installed 'The Gamer', purchased by Steamcorps Securities, Inc. The developers sincerely thank you for supporting the game. Now that you are in the game, let us teach you the basics"**

"Okay" Naruto said, not sure where this was going.

**"The most important thing is to know yourself, which is what the description is for, saying words like 'Character', or 'Status' will bring up the Status screen"**

"Status" Naruto said, wondering what was going to happen.

A blue screen popped up in front of him.

**Naruto Uzumaki, The Gamer, Lvl 2**

**Naruto Uzumaki is a prankster, he's cheerful on the outside, but not as cheerful on the inside. His past is covered with lies that have been told for him, lies that he has yet to discover, lies that will one day help him unlock his true potential.**

**Stats:**

**STR: 24**

**DEX: 18 (13+5)**

**VIT: 178 (150+20+8)**

**INT: 12**

**WIS: 2**

**LUK: 200+**

**Information:**

**HP: 2670**

**CP: 1780**

**Skills:**

**A Gamer's Mind, Lvl. Max: Allows user to think things through, with calm, even in situations that call for panic. The user is immune to psychological status changes**

**A Gamer's Body, Lvl. Max: Live the real world like a game. Regain full HP and CP after waking up from a nice, long, sleep.**

"This doesn't make any sense" Naruto said, he was exasperated. "What the hell is DEX and INT and all this stuff anyway?"

**"We at Steamcorps Securites do understand that for first time gamers, dealing with all this information can be tough, and since we love you all, let us simplify stats for you"**

**HP- Health Points, when HP hits Zero, you can die, it depends upon someone's intention.**

**CP- Chakra Points, Many skills of yours will cost Chakra. Use wisely, and live well.**

**STR: Strength, The more strength you have, the stronger you are, the harder you hit, and the more you resist. Need we say more?**

**DEX: Dexterity, The more dexterous you are, the better your accuracy, agility and various other skills.**

**VIT: Vitality, More Vitality leads to higher HP and CP**

**INT: Intelligence, If you are intelligent, you have better Chakra Control, are able to grasp new skills and can level up skills faster**

**WIS: Wisdom, You might have skills, but it takes a wise man to use them well.**

**LUK: Sometimes, it all comes down to plain dumb luck. **

**Skills: Performing actions creates Skills. Skills are infinite in number, they range from mundane, to awesome and you never know when you have one that can come in handy in a sticky situation. Performing a skill will lead to increasing the skill's level, but be careful, the better the level, the harder it is to go up. And all skills cap.**

**Status: You can call these things classes, Statuses have a positive, negative and some times both effects on a character. **

**Titles: Titles can be for respect, but sometimes they can be awesome. (Note: The Gamer is not a title and during gameplay, only two titles can remain active at any time)**

"Alright, so this explains some stuff" Naruto said, he was still pretty overwhelmed. He had no idea when he had installed this so called game, but it looked like fun, now all he had to do was pick up some cool skills and become awesome.

Suddenly he heard a pop sound, which meant there was something new the game was telling him.

**Skill Created.**

**Daydream[Active], Lvl 1: It's good to dream, but not during the day. Use this skill to come up with an idea, and waste a random amount of time.**

"WHAT THE HELL?" Naruto said, his face taking up a comical explanation. This was certainly not what he had expected would be his first skill.

"Ah, forget about it" Naruto said, closing the window and deciding that now that the sun had come up, he could go on with his life, when suddenly, the quest window popped up again.

**Naruto's Quest Available**

**A Day In The Life: Live a day in your life, eat your breakfast, go to school, you know, ordinary kid stuff? It'd be easy, if you weren't prone to screwing up.**

**Objectives: Cook Breakfast, Make Konoha Academy on time.**

**Rewards: 200 XP, Increased reputation with Konoha.**

**Failure: 50 XP, Decreased Reputation with Konoha.**

**Accept (Y/N)**

Naruto sighed before accepting the quest, this game was going to either be too awesome, or too much of a headache. He hummed a tune as he prepared something he knew best, an instant ramen cup. Once that was done, he almost squealed in delight before digging in, but it was not too long before something popped up on his screen again.

**Skill Created.**

**Cooking, Lvl 1, [Passive/Active]: DON'T QUESTION THE MAN WITH THE HAT. Better skill levels lead to better recipes and taste of food. 2% reduced failure to cook when activated, lasts 15 minutes. Level up this skill by cooking different food.**

**Crafting Tutorial Unlocked. Inventory Tutorial Unlocked. Press Yes to proceed.**

Naruto sighed before pressing yes.

**Crafting: There is no man like a self made man, a master craftsman can make weapons, poisons, food and everything else you can think of for himself. Crafting something can lead to it being available for your inventory.**

Naruto was interested with the crafting aspect of this game.

He looked at the new screen in front of him. It had several empty boxes and a rough outline of his shape with several slots around the head and chest and other areas like legs.

**Inventory: Too cool for bags. There are several slots in the inventory where you can store items. At the moment, all you have are simple night clothes and a cup of cooked, instant ramen.**

**Instant Ramen: You might like it, but it's really useless. +5% chance of catching a stomach bug**

Naruto's face fell upon hearing that. He gulped down his ramen anyway before getting another notification.

**A Day In The Life: Breakfast is done, now time to go to school. On time this time.**

**Objectives: Proceed to Konoha Academy before time runs out. This is a timed mission. 00:01:00:00 (d:h:m:s) remaining.**

**Rewards: 100 Exp, Increased Reputation with Konoha.**

**Failure: 25 Exp, Decreased Reputation with Konoha.**

**Accept? (Y/N)**

Naruto smiled. His life had just gotten really, really interesting.

* * *

**Please read and review, it helps out a lot. The chapters will get longer now that I slowly ease back into writing. Yay! PM me if you have doubts, all will be explained soon.**


	2. Make Me Proud

**Reviews out the Kazoo, now here's the shit that makes me want to write more and more. Get ready people, here is chapter 2. Also, I do need a beta to do some minor corrections, so if anyone is interested, send me a nice little PM and we'll hook up. To do beta work and stuff.**

* * *

"Okay, I only have five minutes left, and quite a long distance to go" Naruto said. The sun was now shining bright and the village hidden in the leaves was bustling with early business of the morning.

And without giving it a second thought, Naruto began sprinting.

**New Skill Created**

**Run (Lvl 1): Run Boy, Run.**

**ACTIVE: Break out into a run, increased Speed by 25%**

**PASSIVE: Regain Stamina 4% quicker**

"Too sweet" Naruto said grinning as he began running. He noticed a weird, green bar pop up as he did so and realized that this must be the stamina that the game was talking about. He had a minute left before he began running through the crowded streets, making it to his classroom just in time.

"Made it" Naruto said in delight. He noticed that a new bar had popped up.

**Naruto's Quest (1/75) Complete: A Day In The Life**

**You ate an unhealthy breakfast and then worked it off by rushing to the academy just in time, thus impressing your teacher. Well done.**

**Reputation With Konoha: 2/250 (Public Enemy)**

**Reputation With Iruka: 1123/1250 (Friendly)**

**+100 XP. 28% left to level up.**

'Alright' Naruto thought to himself. This was awesome, he could get used to it. His teacher, Umino Iruka, one of the few men who gave Naruto any time of the day looked at him.

"Naruto, now that you have made it on time, would you mind going to the seat so I can start my class?" Iruka asked Naruto who sheepishly rubbed his hair before hastily making his way to the last bench where he usually sat down.

'So, now two questions remain. What is reputation good for, and what did that 1/75 mean' Naruto thought, ignoring the looks being thrown at him as Iruka began teaching the class.

**Quest Chain: Just..just one more.**

**Quest Chains are what they sound like, a chain of quests. Every character has a quest chain, and since there are so many in your world, there are numerous quests. Some quests are unlocked only when reputation reaches a certain level. For example, Lovemaking quests are locked till reputation is 2500. Completing a quest chain gives out bonus rewards.**

'The hell is a lovemaking quest? Huh?' Naruto thought to himself before reading on.

**Revealed Quest Chains:**

**Naruto (1/75): There is more to being Hokage than being strong. Gain the respect of people around you.**

**Iruka Umino (0/25): Everyone starts somewhere. Learn whatever Iruka has to teach you, and then one day you can work with him, applying your learning.**

**Story Quest (0/?): You honestly think there is not going to be a story?**

**Hinata Hyuuga (0/50): The road to making love to a woman is long and arduous. Or being friends with her, whatever you want. Help the shy Hyuuga break out of her shell and become a freak in bed (or alternatively a good friend, though we suggest that is a poor choice)**

**Ichiraku Quests (0/10): You love Ramen, they love you. Shit happens. Help the Ichiraku keep their business running smoothly.**

**Third Hokage (0/1): Even the Hokage wants something from you dude.**

'Quest chains' Naruto thought, delighted. 'I love doing stuff. Too sweet'

**Reputation: Respect is earned.**

**Reputation is simply the character's reputation with someone or in a particular place. Reputation can be increased by doing things that the person or place wants them to do. Remain on the good side of the law, help people out and watch your reputation rise. There are several tiers of reputation with different descriptions and sometimes, they can offer you a buff or a negative effect. Reputation can also help make things cheaper for you at stores.**

**Would You Like To See Current Relations?**

**(Y/N)**

Naruto selected Yes.

**Relations:**

**The Public Enemy in Konoha.**

**Respected by The Third Hokage and Hinata Hyuuga**

**Friendly with Umino Iruka.**

**Loved at the Ichiraku Ramen Store**

**Adored by Kakashi Hatake.**

**Hated by Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka**

Naruto stared at the screen. Tears began welling in his eyes when he realized that despite the lonely existence he had had for as long as he could remember, there was still someone that respected him. He looked at Hinata, who seemed incredibly nervous. He was going to help her, he may not like her in a romantic way, but he respected her and was going to do whatever it took to help her succeed.

'I wonder what her stats would be' Naruto thought to himself. 'She's probably awesome'

**New Skill Created.**

**Observe (Lvl 1): No shit Sherlock.**

**ACTIVE: Analyze your target to find more about them (or it). Higher levels will lead to more discoveries.**

"This seems useful" Naruto said in a low voice. He then looked at Hinata before trying to observe her. He was surprised to see a status window pop up.

**Hinata Hyuuga, Lvl 5, The Heiress**

**The heir to the Hyuuga Clan, Hinata is often doubted because it is thought that she does not posses the strength needed to lead a clan. What she does possess is potential that is far beyond the comprehension of many.**

**Reputation: 1860/2000, Respected**

**Statuses: **

**Shy: I just can't say what I want to say**

**EFFECT: -5 STR and -5 DEX**

**Byakugan: I can see under your clothes.**

**EFFECT: +15 INT, +25 DEX**

**Stats:**

**STR: 13 (18-5)**

**DEX: 38 (13+25)**

**VIT: 13**

**INT: 21**

**WIS: 10**

**LUK: 11**

Naruto sighed. It was a shame that while everyone else was working hard and getting better than him, he was just slacking off. He decided to make a vow to himself to do better from this point onward.

**Skill Level Up.**

**Observe is now Lvl 2. You can observe higher level opponents now.**

Naruto did a mental jump in the air before deciding to focus on the lesson again.

* * *

'So working a skill levels it up. That is surely interesting. He had spent a few more tries leveling up his observe skill and found out what he had assumed just after observing Hinata. He was way behind everyone else. Sasuke was already a Lvl 13. Kiba and Shino were about Lvl 10 each and Shikamaru was Lvl 7 but had really high intelligence that simply dwarfed his on every single level.

He felt bad when he realized he was being held back, and the reason was him. He had never taken all this seriously. The irony of the situation was that it was something that is not meant to be taken seriously, a videogame, that put him on the right path. A path he was not getting off again.

**Umino Quest (1/25): A Knife And A Shurkien**

**Description: Perform Knife and Shuriken throwing skills. Note: This quest can be accessed even after it is completed.**

**Objectives: Score 8/20 Kunai near the bullseye to pass.**

**Rewards: 200 XP, Kunai Set (with 20 Kunai), Shuriken Set (with 100 Shuriken)**

Naruto quickly accepted the quest. Time for him to test his skills, he wondered if knife throwing was a skill.

"Um, Iruka sensei?" he raised his hand. Iruka looked at him and smiled, to him it probably seemed like Naruto was paying some attention this time around.

"Sensei, could you show me how you throw Kunai and Shuriken?" Naruto asked him. Iruka looked at him, pausing for a minute before looking at the rest of the class. They should have already known it by now but it wouldn't hurt to show them one more time would it?

"Sure Naruto" Iruka said smiling, Naruto gave him a thumbs up.

"Okay, everybody, let's move to the training fields and show Naruto a thing or two about knife throwing"

-x-

**Skill Created**

**Kunai Skill (Lvl 1): **  
**Yes, that is a knife in my pocket.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 6% with knives. **  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 3% with two or more knives.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased damage by 5% with knives.**  
**ACTIVE: Throw two knives at a singular target, causing 15% more damage. Cost CP:1, Kunai:2**

**Shuriken Skill (Lvl 1):**  
**I throw for the kill.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 6% with Shuriken**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 3% with multiple Shuriken**  
**PASSIVE: Increased Shuriken Damage by 5%**  
**ACTIVE: Throw four shuriken at one target. Increased 15% damage from Shuriken.**

Naruto had seen Iruka demonstrate the knife throwing and shuriken throwing skills and had seemingly created two new skills. He smiled, it was now time to test his skills.

-x-

**Quest Complete (1/25): A Knife And A Shuriken**

**You threw them both, and did passably well.**

**You have gained 200 XP, a Kunai Set, and a Shuriken Set.**

**You have leveled up! You are now Lvl 3.**

"YATTA" Naruto shouted to no one in particular. He was on his way back home after a long day in school and was pleasantly surprised to see that he had leveled up already.

**LVL UP means new Stat Points. Gain 10 for every level. Use these Stat Points wisely. **

Naruto decided the most important thing was intelligence, he had very little of it. So he decided to pour nine into that, and poured the last one into WIS, taking his INT to 21 and his WIS to 3. He also noticed that his VIT had automatically gone up by 10 points. He smiled, that was one less stat he would have to worry about.

He had also leveled up his Knife and Shuriken skills and he was pretty happy with his progress, they both stood at Level 3 now because he had practiced really hard all day.

He stared at his knife throwing skills.

**Kunai Skill (Lvl 3): **  
**Yes, that is a knife in my pocket.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 18% with knives. **  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 9% with two or more knives.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased damage by 15% with knives.**  
**ACTIVE: Throw two knives at a singular target, causing 25% more damage. Cost CP:1, Kunai:2**

He noticed that with every rising level, his passive and active skills had gotten better. He sighed, he knew this was a useful skill to have but he wanted to learn more skills. Iruka was sure surprised when Naruto asked him for the basic three skills. He realized that learning things was easy, but consumed the scroll that he used to learn them.

**Ninja Transformation (Lvl 5): I don't remember what I look like anymore.**  
**ACTIVE: Transform into someone else, effectiveness increases with increased WIS. 25% more effective transformations. 20 CP per minute**

Naruto noticed that he had already gained this skill at a higher level, which meant that the game already knew that he knew these skills. He cringed because her realized that he hadn't ever practiced his knife throwing skills or anything of that sort.

He then tried learning the substitution skill, and to his surprise, it was easier than he thought. Naruto was taken aback when the scroll suddenly burned up, but it felt like he had consumed something.

**Ninja Substitution (Lvl 1): Stop in the name of the log.  
****ACTIVE: Replace yourself with another object to get out of a spot of bother. Works over 50 meters. Cast time is 2 seconds. Cost: 5 CP, 1 unfortunate object.**

However Naruto hit a roadblock when trying to learn his third skill. The Clone.

**Ninja Clones (Lvl 1): An illusion fools you all  
**

**Cannot learn this skill. You require an INT of at least 544 to learn this skill.**

"WHAT THE HELL?" Naruto shouted. There was no way in hell he was going to get to 544 in INT so soon. He almost felt like crying. He knew that he needed to do the clone to pass, but there was no way he could pull something like that off.

"Okay that's it. I need to do something and get my INT up otherwise there is no way to pass the exam that was only one month away" Naruto said to himself. A determined look on his face.

"That's it. I need to grind. Grind, and work my skills and level up. That's it" Naruto exclaimed.

"STOP SHOUTING IDIOT" a voice from the apartment below him rang out. Naruto gulped before jumping out of the window.

-x-

"Jiji, I need to talk to you" Naruto said to the Third Hokage.

The Hokage was an old man, but Naruto knew that he couldn't be fooled by the age. He stared at the status screen above the head of the Hokage when he used the Observe skill on him.

**Hiruzen Sarutobi, The Hokage, Lvl (?)**

**The third Hokage of Konoha. He is known as the professor and the God of Shinobi. Fighting him will fuck you up faster than you can say 'Ramen'**

**Status:**

**Hokage: This village is his king  
****EFFECT: Unknown**

**Covert Pervert: Hehe, you naughty girl  
****EFFECT: 100% more susceptible to seduction****  
**

**The God Of Shinobi: Hurry up with my damn croissants  
EFFECT: Unknown**

**The Professor: Let me enlighten you  
EFFECT: Unknown.**

**Several other unknown statuses.**

**STATS:**

**STR: 200+  
**

**VIT: 200+  
**

**INT: 200+  
**

**DEX: 200+  
**

**WIS: 200+  
**

**LUK: 60**

'Wow' Naruto thought to himself. 'Apart from luck, there doesn't seem like there is much I can learn about from him'

"Yes, Naruto-kun, how can I help you?" The Hokage asked him. His expression was kind, like he always was. At this point in time, Naruto was glad that he was respected by this man. He certainly wouldn't want to be on his dark side.

"Um, Old man, do you know any training grounds I can use?" Naruto asked him. Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled at Naruto.

"Naruto, aren't you supposed to train at the academy?" Sarutobi asked him.

"Yes, but I was thinking-"

"Listen" Sarutobi said interrupting me. "Naruto, you have to take this test seriously. Do you hear me? You cannot slip up this time. You are aware of that right?" Sarutobi asked him. Naruto gulped, before nodding silently.

"You might not believe me when I tell you this, but I expect great things from you, and I know you can do it. So the question is are you willing to make me proud?"

**Quest Received. **

**Hiruzen Sarutobi(1/1): Make Me Proud**

**Objective: Make The Old Man Proud**

**Rewards: Random Reward.**

**Accept (Y/N)**

Naruto almost swore as the sudden notification had surprised him. He decided to accept the quest, other quests were specific about what he was to do, but this one meant a lot to him. His grandfather figure had taken care of him when almost everyone else had taken him for granted or just plain ignored him.

"Yes" Naruto said with a determined tone in his voice, something told the old man that he was completely serious about this one. "I am going to make you proud of me Jiji. Just watch"

"Good" Sarutobi said. "And as for training grounds, only ninjas are allowed to use them. So if you want to train, I suggest you do something else, maybe in your house"

'In my house?' Naruto thought as he left the Hokage's office. There was no way he could think of that could let him grind the clone skill, so what the hell was he going to do about it. Thinking about him only just confused him.

-x-

Nothing seemed to work for him, so he decided to work on his secondary skills that he could use, for example, the Run skill. He found that he had plenty of stamina so he decided to grind the skill and max it as much as possible.

**Run (Lvl 10): Run Boy, Run  
****ACTIVE: Break out into a run, increased speed by 70%  
****PASSIVE: Regain Stamina 22% quicker**

Another skill he decided to work on was his cooking skill. He found cooking to be extremely therapeutic and it also seemed to help him a bit. Over the last one week, he had cooked all his meals, he hadn't visited Ichiraku Ramen and they were sure to be worried about him.

**Cooking (Lvl 8): DON'T QUESTION THE MAN WITH THE HAT!  
****Active: Cook food. 16% reduced chance of failure in attempting a dish  
****Passive: Your food tastes better.**

Naruto noticed that food items really helped him increase his stat for a while, he found that eating Fish related foods helped increase his INT by a certain amount. There were two items in his inventory that clearly would give him an INT boost.

**Grilled Fish: Just a grilled fish. +55 INT for five minutes. Does not stack**

**Fish Sauce: It's just some sauce. +35 INT for five minutes. Does not stack**

The best thing about all this was that as his cooking improved, the effects on his food improved. All he had to do was level up the cooking skill to a certain level where he could get a massive INT boost and thus be able to learn the clone. The exam was only a month away and without being able to access the training ground, this was the best thing he could do at this moment.

That was not all he had done though, he had also done some missions that had almost sent to him to Lvl 4 in the game. There was a daily quest for cleaning an apartment complex. The man who handed him the quest did not seem to hold a grudge against him and he was thus able to make a decent amount of money and experience (which decreased every time he did the quest)

He had leveled up his Kunai throwing skills by a lot. His Shuriken skills had also improved. He observed that he was even capable of leaving a dent in the tree when he threw his knife at a tree. He was sure that one day he was going to split a tree whole by just throwing a knife through it.

-x-

That evening he decided to go to Ichiraku's for the first time in a long time (basically a week) and splurge on Ramen. As he neared the store, he found the old man and his daughter Ayame looking crestfallen.

"Naruto" Ayame said, brightening up upon seeing him. "You were gone for a whole week. Where were you?" she asked him.

"Training" Naruto said, brushing off her concern. "What's with the crestfallen looks?" he asked her. "Did someone die?"

"No you idiot" Ayame said bonking him on the head. "Don't speak like that. But yeah, our deliveryman is very sick and couldn't come to work today. The worst thing is he only sent us a message now, which means we have all these boxes of Ramen and no one to deliver them"

**Naruto Uzmaki Quest (2/25): Ramen Run**

**Deliver the Ramen to the seven different customers in two hours. And DO NOT EAT ANY OF IT!**

**Rewards: 250 XP on successful completion. Healthy Ramen Recipe Book.  
50 XP on failure.**

**Accept(Y/N)?**

"I'll do it Ayame!" Naruto said instantly. A smile on his face.

* * *

**Naruto Uzumaki, Lvl 3, The Gamer.**

**STR: 24**

**DEX: 18 (13+5)**

**VIT: 183(150+30+3)**

**INT: 21**

**WIS: 23**

**LUK: 200+**

**Information:**

**HP: 2745**

**CP: 1830**

**Skills:**

******Run (Lvl 10): Run Boy, Run  
****ACTIVE: Break out into a run, increased speed by 70%  
****PASSIVE: Regain Stamina 22% quicker**

******Ninja Substitution (Lvl 5): Stop in the name of the log.  
****ACTIVE: Replace yourself with another object to get out of a spot of bother. Works over 70 meters. Cast time is 1.6 seconds. Cost: 5 CP, 1 unfortunate object.**

**Observe (Lvl 7): No shit Sherlock.  
****ACTIVE: Analyze your target to find more about them (or it). Higher levels will lead to more discoveries.**

**Kunai Skill (Lvl 10): **  
**Yes, that is a knife in my pocket.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 60% with knives. **  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 30% with two or more knives.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased damage by 50% with knives.**  
**ACTIVE: Throw three knives at a singular target, causing 60% more damage. Cost CP:10, Kunai:3**

**Shuriken Skill (Lvl 1):**  
**I throw for the kill.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 60% with Shuriken**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 30% with multiple Shuriken**  
**PASSIVE: Increased Shuriken Damage by 50%**  
**ACTIVE: Throw eight shuriken at one target. Increased 60% damage from Shuriken.**

**Ninja Transformation (Lvl 10): I don't remember what I look like anymore.**  
**ACTIVE: Transform into someone else, effectiveness increases with increased WIS. 50% more effective transformations. Cost 10 CP per minute.**

******Cooking (Lvl 8): DON'T QUESTION THE MAN WITH THE HAT!  
****Active: Cook food. 16% reduced chance of failure in attempting a dish  
****Passive: Your food tastes better.**

* * *

**OMAKE**

**GAME Manual Part 2**

**Leveling your character is obviously a very important concept, however skill leveling will be briefly discussed. Usage of a skill will cause it to level up. Now skills do cap, however it is a soft cap, which means while there is no limit, it will eventually become very, very, very, very difficult to raise the level of a skill. Basically, expect a skill to rise a level in five years. This concept is called a Soft Level Cap, and is used in GAME.**

**GAME Manual Part 7.**

**Dealing Damage: Damage dealing depends on various stat points, which are clearly mentioned in the skills. If the effectiveness of damage is not mentioned in the skill, then STR is to be assumed as the skill factor. Calculating damage is a complex algorithm that we at SteamCorps do not wish to confuse you with, but suffice to say, it's better to level up a skill as in a life or death battle, bonus damage can be the difference between coming home safely or in a body bag.**

**Various STR boosting food items can be used to increase damage. Some players of this game in other universes have leveled up to a certain point where their cooking skills are so high that they can make food items that give them bonus damage to the tune of around 2500%. I know it sounds insane, but it's possible. DO NOT IGNORE YOUR CRAFTING SKILLS AS THEY CAN GIVE YOU THE DAMAGE YOU NEED.**

**If you are the sneaky type, we suggest developing an assassination technique. Assassination techniques are more precision based and mostly depend on DEX but can (in some cases observed) give upto 10000% bonus damage. A one hit kill if it hits.**

**Develop your natural affinities if you want to burn, drown, cut up, electrocute, or bury your opponents to death.**

**GAME Manual Developers Log 001:**

_**For as long as I can remember, I've been gaming. I wished life was a game, because it was too hard for me to make friends in real life, I escaped into fantasy, and that's not a bad thing, except I was doing all the time. The reason GAME was created was because I wanted to make fantasy reality, and once I do it, Event Horizon will be reached.**_

_**And I am not going to stop there. I'm going to put myself in the game too, so I can be everyone's fantasy. That is the end game.**_

* * *

**So that's it for this chapter guys. Next update comes in the next week sometime. Thank you for showering this with reviews. I love it, keep the support coming and I'll keep the larger chapters coming. PM me your doubts as usual, review as usual and if anyone wants to Beta and make sure that this story keeps coming out on time, please, please offer to help me out. Please? I'll give you an internet hug if you do.**

**Also I am in the early stages of compiling a manual that you guys will be able to add to. Send me some of your custom skills and watch me work them into the story. I call it crowd idea funding. Even if I can't, I will put it into a manual and publish the shit out of it.**

**Now as for pairings, Naruto will be paired, but I don't want to deal with that headache right away man, and since he is playing a game, it would make sense for him to have sex with different women. I still won't make it a Harem, but we'll see. This is not YAOI in any way, I'm okay with gay people but I cannot write about them and do not wish to read those stories.**

**Take care, peace. Zap.**


	3. Find The Queen

**********DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.**

**********NOTE: There was an error in the WIS stat last chapter, it was supposed to be 3, not 23. Sorry about that eh.**

**I love you guys, no seriously. Thank you for responding to the story, good reviews give me good ideas (or okay ones) and I am inspired to write. Please read the OMAKE at the bottom as I explain the mechanics a bit more.**

**This story is obviously about life becoming a videogame, so it is on the lighter side. I really hope at least some of my humor works.**

**Now before we start, time to answer some questions.**

**Ability Descriptions: You guys love them, and I do too. I throw several shout outs to various works of art that I have perused, I will give you a special internet cookie if you can find at least five of them. **

**Dungeons: Read this chapter, more to be explained in the chapters to come.**

**Statuses: There will be more to statuses once Naruto learns about them. Keep that in mind will you.**

**Plot: It kicks off from next chapter. Keep reading.**

**Now no more waiting, on with the fucking story. Also, I am still looking for a Beta. Is anyone interested? Hello? Hello? Anyone? I'll pay. Well, not really, but hey, the greatest reward is helping someone. Right? Right? What I'm saying is I need a Beta ASAP so if anyone is interested, please send me a PM.**

* * *

**Hiruzen Sarutobi (1/1): Make Me Proud.**

**Objective: Make the old man proud of you.**

**Rewards: Random Reward.**

Naruto stared at the screen. Another week had passed, which meant he was two weeks away from graduating. He performed odd quests that had helped level him up and he liked to think that he had figured out somethings about the game. Except he hadn't really figured anything about the game.

**Six Days Ago.**

"How the hell am I supposed to make the old man proud. Do I have to pass?" Naruto asked the mirror he was gazing into. It was amazing how staring into the blue and white screens of the game had made him less sensitive to the other colors in the spectrum.

"Agh. Sometimes, it seems like no matter how much I play this, I will always remain an obscure, distant third party viewer who will never get to understand the game, and how it works" Naruto said sighing.

"Sometimes, it feels like the game is actually playing me" Naruto said, slightly tearing up. "I need to tell someone about this. I need to fucking tell someone about this right now"

**Player Discretion** **Advised. **

"SHUT UP" Naruto screamed, punching the mirror and cracking the glass.

**Player Discretion is of utmost importance for players of the GAME. It's what everyone signed up for.**

"I never signed up for this" Naruto said swiping the notifications the game kept sending it.

"Is that what this stupid thing is called? The GAME? What does that stand for?"

**Does it always have to be an acronym?**

"Great, now I am talking to someone that says it's a game. Just, fantastic"

**Are you mad that you're playing a videogame and the world is still normal, or are you happy that for once you have someone to talk to and someone that will never lie to you?**

"So we're doing this?" Naruto asked no one in particular, but he knew the game was listening. "We are talking to each other. I mean, I speak and you send me these notes, is this really funny?"

**We are not supposed to talk to each other Naruto, but we can, because of what you are.**

"And what am I?"

**Special.**

"What makes me that way, what makes me so special. Does the sun shine out of my fucking ass? What is it? What the fuck is it about me that is so special?"

**Classified Information. Level Up more to reveal some more data.**

"That's what I thought" Naruto said in frustration, before bending down and picking up the glasses. He stared at the broken glass.

**ITEM  
****Broken Glass: Wanna make a shiv?  
ACTIVE: It's a broken shard of glass. Be careful. It might cut ya. Causes 75% Bonus Knife Damage. Causes half attack damage in recoil.**

**Observe has leveled up to 8.**

"Shut up" Naruto said quietly before walking to his bed, hoping to wake up from a nightmare.

-x-

Naruto made a very important decision that night as he lay in bed. He was going to go with this, wherever it took him. He kinda hoped there were other people to play this game with, but loneliness was his forte. As long as he could remember, he was alone. He remembered making a ball out of some strings of yarn just so he could play with it all the time.

He knew that other people found him pathetic, but his friends were all in his head. It was because they had to be this way. He was the pariah after all, and no one knew why that was. He hoped that one day he could figure it out, and then change that about him so people love him more and respect him. It was the reason he wanted to become a Hokage in the first place.

Respect. He couldn't get none.

**Five Days Ago.**

Naruto loved the travelling merchant market that came to Konoha once in a while. It was the only market in the world that actually was unbiased towards him, so naturally, Naruto bought from them a lot.

He stared at the market, the hustle and bustle. He came in early to beat the traffic that was sure to come in from the village. He stared at the vegetable cart and for some reason, felt hungrier than usual. Naruto had changed his eating habits a bit, trying to stay as healthy as he could. He had successfully managed to get rid of the Unhealthy Eater Status and noticed that his VIT had shot up to 198, so awfully close to reaching the 200 mark.

Despite all his unhealthy eating, he was still very healthy and high VIT. He compared his VIT to that of other academy students and they had awful VIT stats. Even the great Sasuke Uchiha who was oh so mighty and oh so loved by the ladies was pretty weak compared to him. Naruto was a tank, maybe in team missions he could take the hit.

He was lost in his thoughts as he slowly meandered through the market, absently looking at the various stalls when a loud voice distracted him.

"Everbody, come here and pick the queen and win a sweet prize. Special Prizes for all you Shinobi people"

Naruto turned and stared at the voice. It was a man who just looked like a well, he was very effeminate from his get up. He was wearing a pink shirt and just spoke in a manner very reminiscent of women, which kinda creeped him out a little bit. He had a table set up with three cards on it.

**Random Quest (1/10): Three Card What?**

**Objective: Find the queen. If you don't, you're probably the queen.**

**Rewards: Basic Fuuinjutsu, 150 XP.**

**Accept (Y/N)?**

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. It wouldn't hurt much to have an option like this, plus apparently he was a quick learner of Fuuinjutsu because of some classified status that the game wouldn't tell him.

"I'll play" Naruto said looking at the man, cringing mentally when he noticed the man start to leer at him.

"Well, if you look at me like that then I'm out" Naruto said to the man who quickly stopped.

"Oh no, this is just a smile, I love little kids, their satisfaction is my utmost concern"

"What?" Naruto asked him, the man stared at him.

"You're a perv" Naruto shouted. The man quickly put a hand on Naruto's mouth.

"Jeez kid" I did not mean it like that. "You know what, I'll do anything to shut you up, so here you go, here's your prize" he said handing Naruto a book. Naruto looked at it, it said Basic Fuuinjutsu.

"You really are a pervert aren't you?" Naruto asked the man, who grinned sheepishly.

"Look" the man said to him. "I don't like little kids, not in that way I mean. But I like handsome men" he said to Naruto before winking. Naruto stared at him before the message finally seeped in.

Someone had called him handsome.

"Thanks for saying I'm handsome man" Naruto said to him, slapping the man on the back before walking away with the book in his hand.

**Random Quest (1/10) Complete: Three Card What?**

**You found the queen. You're most definitely not a queen. Or smart.**

**Congratulations, you have leveled up.**

"Aha" Naruto said, he was quickly over the jibe that the game had thrown at him, someone had told him he was handsome and now he got this.

He went home, shopping for some recipe books and some vegetables that could tide him over next week. He sat down on his bed, looking at the book of Fuuinjutsu in his hand. The book said that he needed ink and some scrolls, so he got a lot of those. He then learned the skill when it prompted him, the book slowly vanished away, burning out as Naruto got a deluge of notifications.

**Skill Learned.**

**Basic Fuuinjutsu (Lvl 1): My lips are sealed.  
ACTIVE: Create Seals for your usage.  
****ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded**  
PASSIVE: Your seals are 2% better.

**Skill Learned.**

**Explosion Tag (Lvl 1): True art is explosion. BOOM!  
ACTIVE: Create a tag that explodes after a custom amount of time. COST: 25 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 300 Seconds  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by 5%**

**Skill Learned.**

**Storage Seal (Lvl 1): Space? I got space.  
ACTIVE: Create a storage seal capable of sealing objects. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 600 Seconds.  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by 5%**

**Skill Learned.**

**Release (max): Not that type of release, although that is also welcome.  
ACTIVE: Release a particular seal. (In case of timed seals, it ends the timer prematurely)**

Naruto stared at the screen for a long time. Holy shit, those were a lot of new skills to learn, but he knew that his progression in this art was going to be fast, so he proceeded to get to work with his skills.

**-x-**

**Four Days Ago,**

Naruto stared at the clock. He hadn't slept all day. He was going to mentally repeat it to himself to make sure that the message sunk in. He hadn't slept all day. That was unbelievable to him.

Why hadn't he slept all day, well, he was busy working with seals. For some reason, Naruto loved seals, Naruto loved everything about them. Writing them as he cast the skill seemed to fill him with a sort of peace that was almost unnatural, he couldn't believe that something that seemed so studious would give him such joy, but it did.

He had spent the whole night making explosive tags and storage tags in alternating fashion.

He stared at his so called mad skills.

**Basic Fuuinjutsu (Lvl 9): My lips are sealed.  
ACTIVE: Create Seals for your usage.  
ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded  
PASSIVE: Your seals are 18% better.**

**Explosion Tag (Lvl 9): True art is explosion. BOOM!  
****ACTIVE: Create a tag that explodes after a custom amount of time. COST: 45 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 180 Seconds  
****PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by 45%**

**Storage Seal (Lvl 7): Space? I got space.  
ACTIVE: Create a storage seal capable of sealing objects. COST: 140 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 510 Seconds.  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by 45%**

Naruto observed something, his more recent tags seemed to demand chakra more, but seemed to be more effective, he needed to test out his explosive tags, but right now, it was time to sleep.

Naruto couldn't believe he had kept his eyes open for so long, he hadn't even allocated his skill points yet, he was so mystified with whatever seemed to be happening and his rapid progression in seals that had to do with a certain status. But right now, he wasn't going to be bothered with that, he was going to sleep.

"Sleep" Naruto said, smiling. He closed his eyes, waiting for mother sleep to take him, to the land of dreams where everyone was his friend and he was everyone's friend.

He kept dreaming, he could see Sakura in his dream, she had finally decided to stop chasing Sasuke and chase him instead. But that's not all, there were other girls there, he could see Ino and Hinata but the rest were faceless. They were showering him with kisses. They were- slapping him.

"NARUTO YOU BAKA, WAKE UP"

"Oh my fucking god that is fucking loud" Naruto said opening his eyes slowly, he could see a certain scarred Chunin looking at him with anger in his eyes.

"Oh, hey Iruka sensei" Naruto said. "How did you know I lived here?" he asked him.

"You weren't hard to find. Now, tell me. Why aren't you in school baka? Do you not realize that in two weeks you are going to have the most important test of your life?" Iruka asked him. Naruto slowly nodded.

"I am sorry Iruka sensei, but aren't you supposed to be in class right now?" Naruto asked him.

"Thanks to you" Naruto said before smacking him on the head again, "Mizuki has to take the class in my stead, meanwhile, I will ensure that you serve your punishment"

Naruto nodded, too tired to protest. "Could I maybe do it tomorrow sensei, I am too tired right now" he said before promptly closing his eyes. Iruka looked at him in anger, he was about to slap him again when his eyes fell on seals. Tons of them, strewn about on the floor. They were explosive tags. And some storage tags.

"Naruto? Did you make these?" Iruka asked him, in half shock.

"Make what?" Naruto said, his eyes were still closed, and he sounded unclear.

"These seals"

"Oh yeah. You can take them, I made too many of those" Naruto said before starting to snore.

'Naruto, how. You can't make a simple clone but this you are good at. You really are special' Iruka thought, inspecting the explosive tags and the storage seals.

-x-

**Three Days Ago,**

"Here" Iruka sensei said to Naruto, handing him a lot of money. Naruto observed the pile.

**75,000 Ryo**

"Whoa" Naruto said. "Iruka sensei, why are you giving me 75,000 ryo?" Naruto asked him.

"How did you know it was 75,000 Ryo Naruto?" Iruka asked him.

"Eh!" Naruto said rubbing his hair as he tried lying. "Lucky guess?"

"Naruto, next time you can at least lie without asking me if I believe the lie" Iruka said to him. "I know what you are" he said to him.

"You-you do?" Naruto asked him.

"Yep" Iruka said smiling. "You were eavesdropping weren't you?" he asked him.

Naruto laughed. "Haha" he decided that he was going to go along with what Iruka was saying and avoid being caught. "You are too good sensei, you caught me, I wonder how you do it" Naruto said, hoping that Iruka would buy the flattery and change the subject.

"How much did you hear?" Iruka asked him. Naruto stared at Iruka, was this man serious, now he wanted to know how much Naruto had overheard, how the fuck was he going to get out of this.

**Random Quest (1/10): Test Of Luck.**

**Objective: Get lucky.**

**Rewards: 250 XP**

**Accept (Y/N)?:**

"Um" Naruto said trying to lie out of his ass. "I overheard you telling Mizuki sensei that you owed me some money?"

Iruka stared at him. "That was yesterday night near my house Naruto, have you been following me again?" Iruka asked him sternly. Naruto rapidly shook his head.

"Just a lucky accident Iruka sensei" Naruto said to him, trying to tell Iruka that he wasn't following him for a prank.

"Well" Iruka said. "Anyway, this money is for the seals, you'd know this was what I got for selling your seals"

**Random Quest (1/10) Complete: Test Of Luck.**

**250 XP Awarded.**

**Thank your lucky stars Iruka believed you.**

Naruto blankly stared at the screen. Lucky stars. LUK. That was what LUK was for.

"NARUTO, DON'T ZONE OUT!" Iruka screamed, bringing Naruto back to reality.

-x-

**Two Days Ago,**

**You have leveled up. Congratulations.**

"Whoa that was quick" Naruto said to no one in particular. He had just finished clearing a building out of rats and that had pushed him over the Lvl 5 mark.

**You have unspent skill points**

"Shit" Naruto groaned. "I forgot allocating points. Well, I know what I want to put it in anyway, 15 in INT and 5 in WIS. His INT shot up to 36 while his WIS shot up to 8. He stared at his VIT, it was now a comfortable 218.

**STAT Bonus Skill Granted.**

**Second Wind (Lvl 1): It's not over yet  
ACTIVE: Regain 25% of your total HP when your HP drops below 30%  
ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded. **

'What does STAT Bonus skill mean?'

**When your STATS reach a certain level, you can gain bonus skills. This can be completely random, some skills are exclusive. Previous ability bonuses were not awarded because the game was started with already high STATS. **

Naruto kept staring at the skill for a long time. Sometimes, this game confused him.

-x-

**One Day Ago.**

"Naruto" said someone knocking on the door. It sounded like the Hokage.

"Oh hey old man" Naruto said opening the door.

"I see you are busy at work" the old man said to him, looking at all the seals strewn on the ground.

"Oh yeah, never mind these, I'll just clean it up"

"No need for that Naruto, I just came here to visit, I've heard about your seal work. Iruka sure was surprised" the old man said to him, there was the beginning of a smile on his face.

"Oh, yeah, well I am unpredictable ya know" Naruto said, at which the old man laughed.

"I am proud of you Naruto, it's good to see that you are finally taking your training seriously"

Naruto perked up at that, as a quest log popped up.

**Hiruzen Sarutobi (1/1): Make Me Proud.**

**Objective: Make the old man proud of you.**

**Rewards: Random Reward.**

He was however surprised to see that he hadn't completed the quest yet. Maybe after the conversation was over.

"I'll tell you something Naruto. I'll give you a gift the day you make Chunin. How does that sound to you?" Sarutobi asked Naruto, who looked confused.

"Huh?" he said scratching his head. "But I'm not even a genin yet old man, why don't you just give me the reward then?"

Sarutobi smiled at him. "I could do that Naruto, but at the rate you're going now, the test will be very easy for you, however the real test is being a shinobi and handling all the pressure. Can you do that?"

Naruto smiled wide, showing all his teeth before sticking out his thumb. Sarutobi felt that the gesture was eerily similar to some other jounin in his employ. "You can count on it old man. I am going to become a genin and in no time, I am going to become a chunin, surely before you die of old age" Naruto said to him.

Sarutobi laughed. "I don't know how old you think I am Naruto, but I can assure you, it's a long time before I become old enough to die" he said to him. "However I might become old enough to retire soon"

"Oh yeah?" Naruto asked him, feeling bashful. "I am going to be strong enough to be a Hokage in no time Old Man, you can believe that. Then you can retire and do lame old man stuff like painting while I do awesome Hokage stuff like bossing over the entire village" Naruto said to him.

The old man smiled, he was still impressed at the naivety of the kids in this world, soon Naruto would become a Shinobi, maybe a chunin and then a jounin, he'd realize that the time to do all these so called 'awesome things' that Naruto often talked about would be limited.

"Naruto, this job, I wish it was as awesome as you say it is" Sarutobi said to him. Naruto looked puzzled at that.

"But what's so lame about the job old man? Everybody respects you, everybody looks up to you right? I mean how bad could it be?" Naruto asked Sarutobi, who smiled, except this one was more wry than anything else.

"Do you think people respect me because I'm the Hokage?" he asked Naruto, who nodded.

"Yeah, because you're the strongest in this village and everyone respects you for it"

"I can tell you right now Naruto" Hiruzen Sarutobi said, he looked older than ever. "I'm not respected because I'm the Hokage. I'm the Hokage because I'm respected. Does that make sense to you?"

Naruto shook his head, maybe he needed to be wiser to understand stuff like this.

"Soon you'll wise up to his world Naruto, and you'll realize that respect does not come with position, it's the position that comes with respect" he said to Naruto in a kind tone. "You'd like to think I'm the strongest man in the village, but I've been surpassed by my students already, all three of them. But they're not Hokage, I am. Do you know why that is?" Sarutobi asked him. Naruto shook his head.

"It's because one of them is a gambler, the other is a pervert who looks at women in hot springs and the third, well, he's- weird" Sarutobi said to him.

"Hey old man, do you think you can get one of your students to teach me?" Naruto asked him, after all if the Hokage was strong, his students would be strong too. Sarutobi laughed again upon hearing this.

"Of course, but I don't have to, one of my students has already decided to teach you, a long, long time ago, and you'll meet him soon enough kid" Sarutobi said to him.

"Really? Really?" Naruto asked him jumping up and down with excitement. "Who is it? Who is it?"

"Time Naruto" the old man said. "Time will tell, unfortunately I'm all out of time, and I must be leaving, I just wanted to check up on you, which I have. So, I will see you as a chunin soon I hope" Sarutobi said. Naruto smiled and assured the old man that yes, he would become a chunin, after which the old man left.

-x-

**Present Day**

**Hiruzen Sarutobi (1/1): Make Me Proud.**

**Objective: Make the old man proud of you.**

**Rewards: Random Reward.**

"I don't get it" Naruto screamed in frustration. "What does this quest mean, how the hell do I make him proud?" he was almost crying. "Do I have to make Chunin or something?"

"HEY GAME!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs. "Help me out here"

**We at SteamCorp would like to remind you that we can hear you perfectly without your pointless screaming. You questions will be answered in due time. For now, only the required information will be given.**

"The point of the game was to be able to do anything you wanted"

**And you can, you just haven't tried yet**

"Is that so?" Naruto asked the game. "Well, in that case, here's what I'm going to do, I'm going to sneak into the training grounds, and I'm going to go train, I don't care if it's against the rules"

**Dungeon Tutorial Unlocked**

"What the fuck?"

**Dungeons are special instances in the game only the members in a party are privy to. They are meant for the gamer to hone his skills and unlock after a certain requirement (varies from player to player) is met.**

**Dungeons are of three types.**

**Training Dungeon: Train, train, train, train. Seriously, it's repetitive  
These dungeons are meant to hone your skills and scale to your level. These dungeons can be accessed at any time and do not have a reset timer on them. ****There are several dungeons found in several locations in this village and the others**

**Loot Dungeon: I'm all about the looting and the shooting.  
****These dungeons scale to your level but can only be productively used few times. Use them when you're short of money, rare loot rarely drops. There are several dungeons found in several locations in this village and the others.**

**Raid Dungeon: Work with your team, or get eaten up along with them.  
Only accessible to a party. These dungeons are super tough to do and should not be attempted alone. Locked at the moment. Several raid dungeons can be found in several locations. Rare drops are more common. Several dungeons can be found in several locations.**

"Alright then" Naruto said. "Now that's what I am talking about"

"Time to go dungeon finding. Bitch"

* * *

**OMAKE**

**Game Manual Part 15**

**Fuuinjutsu**

**Not many of our players actually brush this aspect of our GAME seriously enough, and we are here to tell you that this is not a good idea, because it is important for Ninjas to learn more about this ancient, and yet powerful art of sealing.**

**People in this game who do manage to brush up on this and become proficient are known to be able to swallow attacks with their specially designed weapons, however if you happen to be from the Uzumaki clan, you tend to pick up several bonuses that can help you absorb this art like ink absorbs paper. Pun 100% intended.**

**Game Manual Part 69**

**Sex**

**Sex is a very important mechanic in the game. You can pay for it, but please do not kill the hookers and take their money because this game actually has consequences that can be deadly. Trust me, our testers have tried it.**

**Sex with various kunoichi or shinobi can give you various bonuses. However having sex with these Kunoichi is time consuming and needs an elaborate chain of quests to be completed. The rewards though are worth it. Some players prefer a Harem, some prefer one woman, some don't prefer any women and just have sex for the sake of having sex with it. The possibilities are endless my pervy friends.**

**Game Manual Part 4**

**Skills.**

**Pretty self explanatory don't you think. Skills have a soft cap, refer manual part 2 for details. New effects are added for certain skills depending on your usage of this skill. Certain effects of the skill cap to prevent major imbalance to the game, some others just go on and on. Level them up to find out yourself.**

* * *

**STATS**

**Naruto Uzumaki, Lvl 5, The Gamer.**

**STR: 24**

**DEX: 18 **

**VIT: 218**

**INT: 36**

**WIS: 8**

**LUK: 250+**

**Information:**

**HP: 3270**

**CP: 2180**

******Run (Lvl 16): Run Boy, Run  
****ACTIVE: Break out into a run, increased speed by 100%  
****PASSIVE: Regain Stamina 30% quicker**

******Ninja Substitution (Lvl 9): Stop in the name of the log.  
****ACTIVE: Replace yourself with another object to get out of a spot of bother. Works over 90 meters. Cast time is 1.1 seconds. Cost: 10 CP, 1 unfortunate object.**

**Observe (Lvl 13): No shit Sherlock.  
****ACTIVE: Analyze your target to find more about them (or it). Higher levels will lead to more discoveries.**

**Kunai Skill (Lvl 14): **  
**Yes, that is a knife in my pocket.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 84% with knives. **  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 42% with two or more knives.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased damage by 70% with knives.**  
**ACTIVE: Throw three knives at a singular target, causing 60% more damage. Cost CP:10, Kunai:3**

**Shuriken Skill (Lvl 14):**  
**I throw for the kill.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 84% with Shuriken**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 42% with multiple Shuriken**  
**PASSIVE: Increased Shuriken Damage by 70%**  
**ACTIVE: Throw eight shuriken at one target. Increased 60% damage from Shuriken.**

**Ninja Transformation (Lvl 14): I don't remember what I look like anymore.**  
**ACTIVE: Transform into someone else, effectiveness increases with increased WIS. 70% more effective transformations. Cost 10 CP per minute.**

******Cooking (Lvl 15): DON'T QUESTION THE MAN WITH THE HAT!  
****ACTIVE: Cook food. 30% reduced chance of failure in attempting a dish.  
ACTIVE: Enhancements on food are 10% stronger.  
****PASSIVE: Your food tastes better.**

**********Basic Fuuinjutsu (Lvl 15): My lips are sealed.  
ACTIVE: Create Seals for your usage.  
****ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded**  
PASSIVE: Your seals are 30% better.

**Explosion Tag (Lvl 15): True art is explosion. BOOM!  
ACTIVE: Create a tag that explodes after a custom amount of time. COST: 75 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 90 Seconds  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by 75%**

**Storage Seal (Lvl 10): Space? I got space.  
ACTIVE: Create a storage seal capable of sealing objects. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 465 Seconds.  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by 50%**

**Release (max): Not that type of release, although that is also welcome.  
ACTIVE: Release a particular seal. (In case of timed seals, it ends the timer prematurely)**

******Second Wind (Lvl 1): It's not over yet  
ACTIVE: Regain 25% of your total HP when your HP drops below 30%  
ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded.**

* * *

******Phew, did all that in one setting and let me tell you, it is pretty tiresome. Please read and review this, tell me if you want to see a particular mechanic (in short, give me some ideas bitches HAHAHAHAHA)**

******The Dungeon mechanic will be explained soon. There was some talking and character development in the chapter, and for anyone wondering, yes, the mechanic of character development will figure into the game. You'll see pretty soon in which way.**

******Read, and review. Please review because nothing gets me going like a review.**

******I don't know when the next chapter drops but at the rate I'm going, pretty soon.**

******Later guys- Zap.**

******NOTE: There was an error in the WIS stat last chapter, it was supposed to be 3, not 23. Sorry about that eh.**


	4. The Genesis Of Uzumaki Naruto Part 1

**Holy shit you guys are giving this story some sort of love. I love when that happens, and yes, I will update regularly if you guys review regularly, now here are some responses I wanted to make publicly. Sorry it took me so long to update, but I just celebrated my birthday and I got drunk two days in a row, which is unheard of for me. I did want to write this story drunk but then my conscience kicked in and I passed out.**

**Here are some public responses.**

**Higashiyama Sayuri's Devout: Yes, Skyrim with Ninjas is exactly what I am going for, good on you for picking that up. And you got the Zero from Borderlands 2 reference too, you are a true butt stallion my friend. Have a cookie. **

**malcom : Naruto will not get dozens of bloodlines, and even if he does, they won't be conventional. I haven't thought that far, but I've been thinking about a science mechanic. Trust me on this though, I will not be making the mistake of writing myself in the corner by making someone Godlike and fucking up the story completely. **

**Vallavarayan: I'm sorry but NaruHina is off the table, and so are probably all other parings. If Naruto gets old enough to have sex, he'll fuck different women and not stick to one (this doesn't mean Harem either, just multiple sexual partners). I'm not going to go into that shipping drama again. Also, the Hyuuga perversion is a joke, I wasn't aware it was so played out though.**

**Flavio S: Naruto is far more cynical in this, he's still pretty idealistic, but he's more serious and mature this time around and he will not help Hinata, this story is not really paring oriented, it's gonna focus on the hyperactive unpredictable one, but we'll see if he can. Naruto is going to be a pervert, it is easy to write it that way, he totally is.**

**milpld: Milpld told me that Naruto is getting everything too easily, and I already gave him the answer, but I might as well assuage everyone else, in a videogame, it's pretty easy coming upon drops and selling stuff, so I wrote it that way, but trust me, it gets harder as he gets better.**

**On with the story, nothing is mine, not Gamer or Naruto, but I wish I owned both of them. I'd be loaded. **

* * *

"The time is up, my time is fucking right now" Naruto said as he stared with a grim determination, he knew that it was going to be now or never with him.

**Dungeon Alert: Training Dungeon**

**Training Ground 73: A simple, yet effective training ground. Can be used productively up to level 10**

"I am going to fucking do this, right now" Naruto said staring at the dungeon as he entered it.

-x-

"HOLY FUCKING-" Naruto said as he dodged a blue glob of what was probably chakra infused venom.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Naruto shouted, the target was a spider, except this spider was bigger than Naruto. It was actually the size of the heads on the monument that Naruto had so many times dared to deface.

"That's it you son of a bitch, here I come" he said charging. He flung four knives at the target and smiled in satisfaction as the spider growled in what Naruto was sure was pain. It was more of a yelp.

"My God you're fucking pathetic" Naruto said before charging towards the spider. He had killed all of it's sons and daughters, and now was the time to fucking annihilate this monster and get back to his regular day.

He jumped, letting out an almost inhuman scowl before finally striking with his knife. He saw a blue colored text which read **"CRIT"** which probably meant that Naruto had nailed a critical hit, which had happened a few times already. He had been doing this dungeon for quite a while after all.

"FUCK YEAH MOTHERFUCKER" Naruto shouted in triumph as the spider dropped dead, leaving behind some money, but even more importantly, a lot of experience, because as the message just flashed on his screen.

**You have leveled up, you are now level 7**

Two levels in two hours just by fighting the fucking monsters. Now he knew what he was fucking missing. He was yet to actually use his allotted twenty points but he was sure that he was going to put all of them into INT, because to pass the exam he needed to earn the fucking clone skill and that just seemed impossible at this very moment.

"That's right" Naruto said staring at the dead carcasses of the spider. These spiders seemed to drop a lot of silk and as far as Naruto knew, that could sold for a shit ton of money, so he was collecting it.

"No one man should have all this money and power" Naruto said sagely before deciding that he had been here long enough, he was definitely going to be back here to raise his levels and get some more silk.

-x-

"I know you don't want me here" Naruto said slamming a sack full of spider silk on the table in front of the vendor in front of him. "And I don't give a single shit about that, but I know that you're a tailor, and what I have in that bag is pure, spider silk, something that I'm sure your rich and pathetic customers would love wrapping around their fat little entitled bodies, so how much are you going to give me for this?" Naruto finished. He saw the vendor's veins bulge out, and smiled inwardly. He was glad that he was being a source of such great discomfort to someone.

"You have some nerve coming here you trash" he said to him before flinging the sack back at Naruto. The sack hit Naruto square in the face and some of the silk spilled out of it. The vendor was probably immediately regretting the decision to kick Naruto out of the store because he realized that this was rare material and was there for his taking.

"Where in the hell did you get this anyway you brat?" the vendor asked Naruto. Naruto just grimaced, he was already pissed off at having to pick up the silk that was spilled out on the floor.

"Why do you care?" Naruto asked him, more like dared him to retaliate. He had had it with the sick attitudes of these villagers towards him, sure he was a prankster but he had no idea what he had done to deserve such bullshit from all of them.

"I might be interested" the vendor said to him. Naruto snorted.

"Yeah right, right after you realize you are interested in something, you decide to destroy it, isn't that how you roll?" Naruto asked the vendor.

"Look here kid, I might be willing to buy this from you. How much do you want for all this"

"There are like a 100 silk pieces in that, and I am going to sell this to you for 5000 a piece, so yes, 500,000 ryo"

"No, take 100,000 and nothing more, not a single ryo" the vendor said to him.

"How about 200,000 and no more inflated prices when you sell stuff to me here, I just want permission to shop here, I will not cause any trouble and if you are happy with the quality, I might exclusively provide the silk to you" Naruto said to him. The vendor began scratching his head slowly.

They said that the kid was demon trash, and yes, he was rude but he hadn't seen any malice from him yet, plus this offer was pretty good, and with silk that cheap he was going to sell more clothes and make a lot more money.

"Okay, 200,000" the vendor said. "You can shop here at the regular rate, but a single time you prank anyone while they're in my store and you're out faster than you can say dango" the man said. Naruto grinned, the vendor cringed when he observed how fox like his grin really was.

"Oh great, now all I have to do is sell off all these spare seals I made" Naruto said to the vendor before collecting his money. The vendor had verified the product and was satisfied with it.

"Keep your mouth shut about our arrangement" the man said to Naruto, who nodded. This was an easy way to make money and he was not going to ruin it for himself.

**Skill Learned.**

**Store Haggling (Lvl 1): Everybody has a price.  
PASSIVE: Bargain with store keepers for buying and selling, with a 5% chance of success.**

Naruto grinned at that. 'Score' he thought to himself before leaving.

-x-

**Two Weeks Later**

**You have leveled up. You are now Level 10.**

Naruto stared at his level up screen, and he was glad he did because what he saw was 50 spare points just milling about, waiting for them to be assigned. Naruto stared at his VIT, he was already probably tougher to take down than anyone else he had seen so far. Most of his fellow students at the academy did not have VIT of more than 20 or 30. But they were also very much higher than him when it came to INT, and Naruto wondered why that was. As far as he knew, he could be thick headed but he was no dumber than Kiba or Chouji or some other joe blow in his class, so what was up with his low INT?

He stared at his 50 points. Over the past few days, he had been working out and he had observed that some skills were randomly upped once he exercised them. He had already gained a couple of points in STR that way and also a couple in WIS, but he was pretty sure he hadn't really done anything. But the area where his growth was the highest was DEX, which was up by a massive six points and Naruto knew that it was much faster than the conventional growth that occurred when a skill was used up.

Naruto had checked his status and realized why that was, his statuses had changed and he had missed his, his new statuses were interesting to say the least.

**?:?  
+150 VIT, +10 VIT per level**

**?:?  
+100% speed when learning Fuuinjutsu.**

**The Pariah: All alone. No one to talk to.  
PASSIVE: Reputation gains cut by half (not applicable if quest awards)  
**

**The Determinator: You can't stop me now.  
****PASSIVE: Random increases in DEX after a certain time period. Skills go up 50% faster.**

All his other skills were gone, maybe the Prankster King was gone because he hadn't really played pranks on anyone in the last week, but he wondered if he was still up for it.

"Hmm, it would be cool pulling off the coolest prank I can"

**Naruto Uzumaki Quest (3/75): Bow Down To The King 1**

**Show people why you really are the king of pranks.**

**Objective: Deface the Hokage Monument. ALL of it this time.**

"Challenge accepted" Naruto said, smiling.

-x-

"NARUTO" Iruka Umino shouted at the blonde ninja, who hadn't even had the decency to look sheepish for his actions. He had gone too far this time and defaced all the four heads on the monuments, and was glad to see the return of the Prankster King status for him. This was going to help him a lot with the progress in his sealing skills.

Iruka had dragged him back to class by his ears.

Naruto ignored the screaming of Iruka and looked at his still unassigned points, he was going to have to put all of them in INT and WIS, but then he decided to check something else. He still had the clone jutsu scroll so he opened up his inventory and looked at the requirements for the Clone Jutsu.

**Clone Jutsu: Cannot learn, requires 792 INT.**

Naruto stared a the screen, it seemed like he was never going to be able to learn the clone jutsu especially when it's requirements kept going up, and that was such an important part of the class too, how the hell was he going to be a ninja without being able to make a clone.

"NARUTO ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?" Iruka's loud screams snapped Naruto out of his reverie, and when he began focusing, he could see that Iruka was clearly not happy with Naruto, at all.

"I'm sorry?" Naruto said hopefully. Iruka stared at Naruto for a whole minute before deciding that screaming at him was going to be a waste of energy and moved on.

"I want you all to know that there is an important exam tomorrow, if you pass, you will all become ninjas and adults in this world. You'll be asked to do all sorts of things for the safety and prosperity of your village. What I'm saying is that all of you, should be taking this seriously. Is that understood?" Iruka asked the whole class.

"Yes Iruka-sensei" the whole class chorused. Iruka smiled. "Alright, you are dismissed for today. Good luck for tomorrow"

Naruto hoped that he could sneak out undetected but apparently Iruka was keeping an eye out on him.

"Just where the hell do you think you're going Naruto" Iruka asked him, Naruto had tried getting out of there but Iruka held him by his collar. "You young man, are going to clean up your mess. Do you understand?"

Naruto groaned before saying that yes, in fact he did understand.

He hated cleaning.

-x-

"Phew, that was a long ass day" Naruto said before slumping on his couch. He did not have the couch until a few days ago but the travelling market had come back to town again and he had bought the couch. It was a steal for the amount of money it sold and he finally had a place to sit.

He opened a drawer which was full of money before dumping some more money in there. Naruto had been introduced to the concept of grinding and ever since then he had been selling a lot of the seals he made, which was bringing in a shit load of money, more than he could spend. He was able to afford the exorbitant prices the storekeepers set for him, even though he knew it was not even worth how much he was paying for them, but he figured that he was soon going to win them over with reputation gains and make his life easier.

Naruto stared at his skill levels, yesterday he had hit something called the Skill Cap, which was unexpected because he was under the impression that the game had infinite leveling but it would get harder and harder the higher you went, but apparently the skill in question was upgradable and those kinds of skills have a hard cap.

He stared at his, he really was very good at seals.

**Basic Fuuinjutsu (Lvl 25, MAX): My lips are sealed.  
ACTIVE: Create Seals for your usage.  
****ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded**  
PASSIVE: Your seals are 50% better.

**Explosion Tag (Lvl 24): True art is explosion. BOOM!  
ACTIVE: Create a tag that explodes after a custom amount of time. COST: 75 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 50 Seconds  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by half**

**Storage Seal (Lvl 22): Space? I got space.  
ACTIVE: Create a storage seal capable of sealing objects. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 425 Seconds.  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by half**

He stared at the status screen, he had also created another very useful seal that he was going to make his signature, the good ol' ninja smoke bomb.

**Smoke Bomb Seal (Lvl 10) : This shit might give you cancer  
****ACTIVE: Create a seal that gives smoke when it goes off, thus temporarily blinding your enemy. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls, 140 Seconds  
****PASSIVE: The blinding effect is 30% more effective and lasts 25% longer.**

He stared for a bit more before deciding that he wanted to take a break today and come back at it tomorrow, by hook or by crook, he was going to have to pass the exam. Now was time for some shopping.

-x-

"Hello vendor man" Naruto said to the same vendor who bought silk from him. He had been selling to him for the last three weeks and noticed that the vendor had began warming up to him, maybe he should stop pranking other people and they'd like him too.

"Oh it's you, what is it Naruto? You only sold me silk yesterday" the vendor said to him. He looked tired, he had had a long and hard day, with lots of customers that had decided to drop in on him.

"I am aware of that, and no I don't have more silk but I might be working on it right now" Naruto said to him.

The store keeper narrowed his eyes. "You sell to my competitor and so help me God I will-"

"Relax vendor man, quit your freaking out. I've been busy, I have exams tomorrow you know, I need to pass those, once I'm a ninja I might be able to procure more silk for you, what do you say to that?"

"You sell more, I pay more" the store keeper said to him. Naruto grinned, it was the same damn fox like grin.

"Why the fuck do you smile like that whisker face?" the store keeper said to him. Naruto looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

"I mean your grin, why is it so, fox like?" the store keeper asked him. Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, it's not like I try to make it that way, I don't know why I have these whiskers either, I was born with them I guess" he said dismissively, "What I need is not a lecture on my smile, which by the way is a million fucking dollars. I need some new clothes"

The store keeper had a look of consternation on his face. He might not be a shinobi, but neither was this kid and he did not seem to be lying at all. Naruto Uzumaki really did not know anything about the demon that was sealed inside him.

'He is less sinister than I thought, he has no malice at all, just an innocent kid trying to achieve his dream'

"Hey, are you deaf or something" Naruto shouted, waving his hand repeatedly in front of the store keepers face. "What the fuck man? I wanted to know if you have some cool clothes"

'An innocent and extremely annoying kid' the store keeper corrected himself, "Yeah, yeah, I am coming"

"So I decided" Naruto said, pointing to his orange track suit. "I need a change, if I am a ninja, this won't do" he said to the vendor, who nodded vigorously.

"Yes, that dress is an abomination, I don't think anyone likes that color" he said to Naruto. "It's fucking hideous"

"HEY" Naruto said, looking really offended. "I love the color, it is not 'fucking hideous', it is a cool and noble color" Naruto said to him while the store keeper stared at him like he was an alien.

"You have horrible taste kid" the man said to him. "But this" he said before pulling out a beige colored pant and a black shirt, "This is awesome." he finished, handing Naruto the clothes.

"It has got to have a little orange on it" Naruto said to him as the store keeper sighed.

"I can do a flame pattern on it, the flames can be orange, and it'll look a lot better than this-" he said pointing at Naruto's current garb. "Monstrosity"

"Oh yeah, and I need a jacket with some pockets, a black or grey colored one will do, it needs to have some pockets where I can create storage seals" Naruto said to him.

The store keepers face dropped open. "You can create storage seals, already, aren't academy kids not supposed to be taught that?" he asked Naruto, who laughed.

"Yeah right, but that seems to be one of the few things I am good at, I can't even make a fucking clone man, it's that bad, but seals I am naturally good at, it's like I was born to seal things" Naruto finished.

"That's actually pretty fitting, coming from you" the shopkeeper said to Naruto, who looked puzzled and asked the store keeper what he meant.

He would have liked to tell him that Naruto sealed one of the most malevolent forces of nature, but that was prohibited so he quickly dodged the question before moving on.

"You know, I've been thinking about going into the clothing business for Shinobi, but that Higurashi fella has a monopoly on that business, and I can't break into it"

"Yeah" Naruto said to him. "I sell all my seals to him, his daughter is in the fucking program too, one year my senior"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yup, and I asked her for a spar, but she refused, said I was too much of a snot nosed brat" Naruto said, he looked angered.

The shopkeeper laughed heartily. "Hahaha" he said, holding his stomach trying to control his laughter. "She is right" he said to him.

"Funny" Naruto said, his tone was acidic. "Just, bill me the amount and I'll pay ya" Naruto said to him, but the shopkeeper waved it off.

"I'll get the finished product, and if you can sell me a few more silk, because I am running short, I can directly give it to you for free, or you can pay me too, but silk seems better for both of us"

"I have like 15 silk, but the supply is short, I need to make a run somewhere else man" Naruto said to him.

"That's okay, I need 10 silk, so at your rate, that's 20,000, I'll give you two sets for that and throw in a pair of free sunglasses, what do you think about that?"

"Done" Naruto said, "Nice doing business with ya"

-x-

"Right" Naruto said to no one in particular, he was staring at his stat screen.

"Time to raise the fucking roof, and some points baby" he shouted in enthusiasm, before shutting up, fearful that he might wake up the neighbors.

He stared at his stat points

**Naruto Uzumaki, Lvl 10, The Gamer.**

**STR: 26**

**DEX: 24**

**VIT: 268**

**INT: 36**

**WIS: 10**

**LUK: 300+**

**Information:**

**HP: 4020**

**CP: 2680**

**Available Points: 50**

'Alright' Naruto thought, before coming to a decision, he was going to up his INT, WIS and DEX. He put 20 in INT, 15 in WIS and 15 in DEX, so now his INT was 56, his WIS was 25, his DEX was 39.

He smiled, he was satisfied with his selection.

"Time to go to sleep"

-x-

That night Naruto dreamed about a lot, he could hear a woman telling him that she loved him, and a blonde haired man who was smiling at him. Then he heard a roar, before waking up from his bed, in a daze.

'What the fuck was that?' Naruto thought, the sunlight was seeping in now, he had woken up two full hours earlier than his alarm clock was set.

'I don't have to worry about oversleeping I guess' Naruto thought shrugging before getting up and brushing his teeth. He looked at himself in the mirror for a bit, his whisker marks were something he always had, but no one else seemed to have them. He was not the only one in the village with weird body parts, he had heard from reliable sources in the travelling caravan that Tsunade of the Sennin had breasts the size of mountains on her and was super hot for her age. Naruto cringed, it was hard to imagine someone of her age, with wrinkled skin, but then again he had never seen her so it wouldn't really matter.

'This is not the first time I have had that dream' Naruto thought to himself. On some nights he could see a red haired woman, on some other nights a blonde haired man, they were smiling at him.

'Were they my parents?' Naruto thought to himself. Ever since he was a child, he had been told that his parents had abandoned him because they couldn't deal with him, he was trash and they didn't want to be associated with him. He was hurt when he heard that at first, but he had learned to live with it.

Naruto shook it off before cooking himself some bacon, he had gotten really good at it too, his food was pretty awesome and he had stopped going to Ichiraku's except on one day and only ate a couple of bowls. The old man and Ayame were pretty worried about his good health. Naruto laughed before moving to his breakfast table with the bacon on his plate, he knew it was unhealthy but he wanted to have a full breakfast, he hastily flipped through the pages of a shinobi manual that was on the desk. He didn't like to admit it to anyone, but as he stared in the mirror, all he could see in front of him was a lonely and nervous boy.

**The creators of GAME would like to wish you Naruto Uzumaki all the best for your exams**

Naruto stared at the message, the game had become some sort of a companion to him and it was a source of solace in times of loneliness, and he wondered what he had done wrong in his life to have basically ended up as the universe's plaything.

"Well" Naruto said, forcing himself to sound cheerful. "Good luck is good luck I guess"

-x-

Naruto stared at his exam paper, everybody else was already busy writing.

'Strange' he thought, 'I thought there'd be a mission to pass my exams'

The game generally tended to trigger stuff at him this way, but nothing happened today, which made Naruto wonder more. The question paper for that part seemed simple enough, he had increased INT which helped with his memory and he remembered around 20 of the 25 multiple choice questions, the only thing that was frustrating was that he hadn't passed the exam sooner.

'It took me three attempts to finally ace this bitch' Naruto thought, gritting his teeth.

He finished his test just after Sakura. He looked at his long time crush, and maybe it was his intelligence but she didn't seem as appealing to him anymore. Naruto had tried to figure out why that was and the only thing he had been able to come up with was 'loud'. She was loud. Very, very loud.

"Almost like a banshee" Naruto said under his breath as he moved in to hand his papers.

"What was that Naruto?" Iruka asked him.

"I said I love Chinese food" Naruto said, perhaps too quickly. Iruka looked at him puzzled. "You know" Naruto tried shaking his hands and miming chopsticks. "It's true"

Iruka and the rest of the class stared at him. "Come on, what the fuck guys, Chinese food is awesome right"

"Naruto" Sakura said interjecting. "First of all, you are disturbing the rest of the class, also you can't name a single Chinese dish" she said to him.

"Sure I can" Naruto said. "Chow-mein" Naruto said, before rubbing his stomach and making a satisfied expression on his face.

"I feel like Naruto has overplayed whatever joke he was trying to make" Shikamaru said to everyone. Naruto stared at him, before showing him the middle finger.

"NARUTO" Iruka shouted at him. "MAINTAIN ORDER IN THE CLASS"

-x-

"Knife don't fail me now" Naruto said, launching with great precision all the knives he had in his hand, which were a total of five. There were five boards in front of him, and all of them hit the target.

"YEAH. FUCK YEAH" Naruto shouted, before pulling out the Shuriken and doing the same with that too.

"I fucking aced that shit" he said to the big boned Chouji Akimichi who nodded.

"You sure did Naruto" Chouji said as he munched his chips.

"Oh man, those look awesome, can I have those?" Naruto asked Chouji. As he extended his hand to try and pull out a couple of pieces of chips, Chouji snatched the packet away.

"CHOUJI DOES NOT SHARE FOOD" he shouted at Naruto.

"Please" Naruto said, almost whimpering, he did not want to get on this kid's bad side today.

"Fine" Chouji said, grumbling before letting him take a couple of pieces of chips.

-x-

"And now Naruto, moment of truth" Iruka said to Naruto. He had aced the illusion and the substitution but the cloning was still left.

"No" Naruto said to Iruka.

Iruka raised an eyebrow, and his tone slowly grew threatening.

"What the hell do you mean by no? Naruto?" he asked Naruto.

"I say no to cloning, I think it's immoral to play God" Naruto said, hoping it would work.

"He does make a point" Mizuki said to Iruka, "I mean illegal experiments are the reason Orochimaru was kicked out of the village right?"

**Skill Learned.**

**Bullshiting (Lvl 1): You don't know what I am saying? Well, neither do I.  
****ACTIVE: Bullshit your way out of a sticky situation, this is a type of skill test. LUK requirements reduced by 2%**

"Naruto" Iruka said. "Can you do the clones?"

**Skill Test failed. LUK required not high enough.**

"DAMMIT ALL" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto, first of all, no one is asking you to play god, these clones are not corporeal, that means not solid, they are illusions, just like your disguise. So now, please stop beating around the bush and joking around and do the fucking clone" Iruka said to him, the precision F-Strike was going to work because Naruto knew no amount of LUK was gonna get him out of this shithole.

"I can't" Naruto said defeated. He thought he saw Mizuki sneer but brushed it aside, the guy did seem nice.

"Try" Iruka said softly, he did not want to see Naruto fail.

"I can't Iruka-sensei" Naruto said. "My chakra is too high"

"Your control could be low too" Mizuki offered.

"Can you do the clone Naruto?" Iruka asked him. Naruto shook his head, to indicate that no, he couldn't.

"Well, I'm sorry, you fail" Iruka said to him.

Naruto left the room, trying not to let the tears fall in front of his teachers. As he left he heard Iruka say something to Mizuki.

"What the fuck is the problem Mizuki, did you actually believe Naruto's bullshit about his moral problems with cloning?"

-x-

Naruto stared at the swing set. He had come hear the last time he had failed, and the time before that. Something about swinging aimlessly was comforting.

"Maybe I could keep the skills now that it's game over, I can still make awesome seals" Naruto said to no one in particular.

**THE GAME Naruto, is never over.**

'Not in the mood you piece of shit' Naruto thought, quickly dismissing the status message.

"Naruto", it was the grey haired sensei Mizuki.

"Oh hey sensei, are you here to tell me I can't come back next year?" Naruto asked him, he had expected this.

"I'm here to tell you you can pass" Mizuki said to him. "You can still pass the exam Naruto"

**STORY QUEST (1/?)**

**The Genesis Of Uzumaki Naruto**

**Description: You failed the exam, but everything happens for a reason doesn't it. Find out your 'reason' Naruto.**

**Objectives: **

**1. Listen to Mizuki's instructions**

**Other objectives hidden.**

**Rewards: A Jutsu and +15 WIS**

**Accept (Y/N)?**

Naruto stared at the status screen in disbelief. He stared at Mizuki in disbelief, the grey haired Chunin was smiling. He still had a shot.

'Yes' Naruto thought, deciding that he was going to accept the mission.

'I accept'

**You didn't really have a choice Naruto**

The game had sent him a status message.

'It really is never going to end is it?' Naruto thought to himself.

**No**

* * *

**OMAKE**

**Game Manual Part 1**

**Stats**

**Stats are explained in detail in the tutorial, they can be increased quickly by leveling up, or the hard way by training. Train with weights and get your STR and DEX up. Read books and get your INT up. WIS goes up with age and doing certain things and making mistakes. LUK stays constant but is more useful than most players give it credit for.**

**Game Manual Part 20**

**Dungeons**

**Dungeons are of three types.**

**Training Dungeons are meant to hone your skills and scale to your level. These dungeons can be accessed at any time and do not have a reset timer on them. ****There are several dungeons found in several locations in this village and the others**

**Loot Dungeons ****scale to your level but can only be productively used few times. Use them when you're short of money, rare loot rarely drops. There are several dungeons found in several locations in this village and the others.**

**Raid Dungeons are only accessible to a party. These dungeons are super tough to do and should not be attempted alone. Locked at the moment. Several raid dungeons can be found in several locations. Rare drops are more common. Several dungeons can be found in several locations.**

**While dungeons do scale to level, they have a cap and become useless after the cap has been crossed. This is done to prevent excessive grinding, it's easy to quantify your life but we at SteamCorps would still like to make it a little bit challenging. Loot is also level scaled, low level loot can be obtained if you want by redoing a particular dungeon whose cap has been reached.**

**Game Manual Part 5**

**Reputation**

**Skills is not all this game is good for. You have to gain respect. Respect at higher levels can unlock previously locked character quests, Reputation with the opposite gender (or the same gender if you both swing that way) can lead to lovemaking being available. Lovemaking is only possible by your initiation if you are Loved by the target. Depending on the actions taken by you, there are several reputation levels.**

**0-500: Hated, Detested, Is Thought To Be Extremely Annoying, Probably A Voodoo Doll On Someone's Table**  
**500-1000: Unfriendly, Minor Annoyance, Not Close.**  
**1000-1500: Neutral**  
**1500-2000: Friendly, Respected, Adored**  
**2000-2500: Siblings, Loved, Exalted, Feared**  
**2500+: Worshiped**

**There are several other levels of reputation that change from relationship to relationship, but if the store keeper is warming up to you, it's probably due to your reputation. Reputation is a hidden attribute, so use these levels to accurately gauge your reputation with someone.**

* * *

**Naruto Uzumaki, Lvl 10, The Gamer.**

**STR: 26**

**DEX: 39**

**VIT: 268**

**INT: 56**

**WIS: 25**

**LUK: 300+**

**Information:**

**HP: 4020**

**CP: 2680**

******Run (Lvl 19): Run Boy, Run  
****ACTIVE: Break out into a run, increased speed by 100%  
****PASSIVE: Regain Stamina 39% quicker**

******Ninja Substitution (Lvl 20): Stop in the name of the log.  
****ACTIVE: Replace yourself with another object to get out of a spot of bother. Works over 90 meters. Cast time is 0.8 seconds. Cost: 10 CP, 1 unfortunate object.**

**Observe (Lvl 17): No shit Sherlock.  
****ACTIVE: Analyze your target to find more about them (or it). Higher levels will lead to more discoveries.**

**Kunai Skill (Lvl 20): **  
**Yes, that is a knife in my pocket.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 100% with knives. **  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 50% with two or more knives.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased damage by 100% with knives.**  
**ACTIVE: Throw tfive knives at a singular target, causing 150% more damage. Cost CP:10, Kunai:3**

**Shuriken Skill (Lvl 14):**  
**I throw for the kill.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 84% with Shuriken**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 42% with multiple Shuriken**  
**PASSIVE: Increased Shuriken Damage by 70%**  
**ACTIVE: Throw eight shuriken at one target. Increased 60% damage from Shuriken.**

**Ninja Transformation (Lvl 20): I don't remember what I look like anymore.**  
**ACTIVE: Transform into someone else, effectiveness increases with increased WIS. 100% more effective transformations. Cost 10 CP per minute.**

******Cooking (Lvl 20): DON'T QUESTION THE MAN WITH THE HAT!  
****ACTIVE: Cook food. 60% reduced chance of failure in attempting a dish.  
ACTIVE: Enhancements on food are 10% stronger.  
****PASSIVE: Your food tastes better.**

**Basic Fuuinjutsu (Lvl 25, MAX): My lips are sealed.  
ACTIVE: Create Seals for your usage.  
****ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded**  
PASSIVE: Your seals are 50% better.

**Explosion Tag (Lvl 24): True art is explosion. BOOM!  
ACTIVE: Create a tag that explodes after a custom amount of time. COST: 75 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 50 Seconds  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by half**

**Storage Seal (Lvl 22): Space? I got space.  
ACTIVE: Create a storage seal capable of sealing objects. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 425 Seconds.  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by half**

**Smoke Bomb Seal (Lvl 10) : This shit might give you cancer  
****ACTIVE: Create a seal that gives smoke when it goes off, thus temporarily blinding your enemy. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls, 140 Seconds  
****PASSIVE: The blinding effect is 30% more effective and lasts 25% longer.**

**Bullshiting (Lvl 1): You don't know what I am saying? Well, neither do I.  
****ACTIVE: Bullshit your way out of a sticky situation, this is a type of skill test. LUK requirements reduced by 2%**

**Release (max): Not that type of release, although that is also welcome.  
ACTIVE: Release a particular seal. (In case of timed seals, it ends the timer prematurely)**

**Second Wind (Lvl 1): It's not over yet  
ACTIVE: Regain 25% of your total HP when your HP drops below 30%  
ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded.  
ACTIVE: Can be used once every 24 hours. User needs to rest after the fight is finished.**

**Store Haggling (Lvl 2): Everybody has a price.  
PASSIVE: Bargain with store keepers for buying and selling, with a 10% chance of success**

* * *

**Now I know guys that there might be mistakes, but I'm only human. I might be getting a Beta soon to solve that problem but with my life the way it is, I can't really correct mistakes, and even if I do, some still slip past.**

**Now the story will really kick off, and I need you to kick me by sending me a review, so get to it guys.**

**See you later, Peace, Zap.**


	5. The Genesis Of Uzumaki Naruto Part 2

**Thank you for all the support. Please continue to shower this story with reviews as they motivate me like nothing in this world. I got the update out quickly because I was possessed to get the update out.**

**I'd like to specially thank malcolm, who graciously offered to be my beta and I think did a fantastic job.**

**A lot of people picked up on Naruto's excessive swearing, and I realized that 26 'fucks', 3 'bitches' and 2 'ass' words are a bit too much for Naruto, so I tried toning it down here. Naruto did grow up in a rough neighborhood with no parents so you can understand why he swears, but yes, I did tone it down so I'll apologize to all the people who were offended or annoyed.**

**NARUTO AND THE GAMER ARE NOT MINE TO CLAIM.**

* * *

"So let me get this straight" Naruto said, what Mizuki had told him was so unbelievable that he had to ask Mizuki for confirmation again.

"You want me to go into the Hokage's office, and steal a scroll, that apparently has tens and thousands of secret Jutsus, then you want me to learn at least one, and I will pass the exams?" Naruto asked Mizuki, who nodded.

"That is pretty much it, yes" Mizuki said to Naruto.

"And Iruka knows about this?" Naruto asked Mizuki, who nodded.

"He doesn't want you to do it, as getting caught can be deadly for you, no one wants to mess with the Hokage's temper" Mizuki said to Naruto, who fell into deep thought.

'This makes little to no sense, what kind of bullshit is this? So just by learning a Jutsu I am going to pass, wouldn't I have passed anyway even if I couldn't do a clone if that was the case?' Naruto thought to himself, Mizuki's offer seemed at best very suspicious.

"I know you're thinking how a single Jutsu can pass you, but you must understand, this is no normal scroll, the techniques are strong, some are even Jounin level, they are difficult to learn but you don't have any options, Naruto, you do this and you can even get an early promotion, you just have to play your cards right" Mizuki said to him.

"No one can beat me in a card game, I'm lucky as hell" Naruto said to Mizuki, who grinned.

"So are you going to do this?" Mizuki asked Naruto ignoring the card comment

Naruto thought about it. 'This does not seem right, but I might as well accept it and see what is what'

"Yeah" he said after what seemed like a whole minute, this was going to suck really bad. "I will do it" he said to Mizuki.

"Good, it's best to move at night" Mizuki said to him. "I'll be in the forest about two hours after the scroll is stolen, so if you really do have the skill, Naruto, you have two hours to prove it to me and everyone else, do you accept?" Mizuki asked Naruto.

Naruto nodded. "I accept"

**The Genesis Of Uzumaki Naruto**

**Description: You failed the exam, but everything happens for a reason doesn't it? Find out your 'reason' Naruto.**

**Objectives:**

**1. Listen to Mizuki's instructions**

**2. Steal The Scroll Of Seals from The Hokage's Office**

**Rewards: A Jutsu and +15 WIS**

'This seems incredibly suspicious but the game thinks I should do it, and there is no way to refuse it. So I am going to have to do it'

So now he was going to steal a scroll that apparently held deadly Jutsus and they were his to learn, he knew that he must have satisfied some requirements that the game would let him learn at least one or two of those.

'I should take a scroll with me and copy all those awesome Jutsus so that I can pick them up later, because the fucking game burns the books and scrolls after I absorb their knowledge'

And so his mission was clear, he was going to steal the scroll and learn the damn Jutsus, because that was his job, and even if what Mizuki was saying things that were not true, he was going to do them, because he was in a game, and he was going to do what the game said, because he couldn't go wrong with it.

-x-

It was night time, and the village of hidden in the leaves was as quiet as a tree, except for all the rustling of course. It was particularly windy tonight and slowly the lights in the village dimmed, before going off, the village was sleeping.

But one of its residents was anything but, and that was Uzumaki Naruto. He was wearing a mask to hide his face, and he would have hidden his blonde hair too which was a standout but he didn't feel like he was going to need it, he was going to pull it off by hook or by crook.

As he began sneaking, he realized that the game had given him a new skill.

**Stealth (Lvl 5) : Silent, but deadly.  
****ACTIVE: Skill is upgradable  
****ACTIVE: Go into sneak mode, reducing the noise you make, the staple of any ninja  
****PASSIVE: It is 20% harder to detect you when you are sneaking  
****PASSIVE: When sneaking, knife damage is increased by 45%**

'I have been playing pranks for so long and it's only now that this game gives me the sneak skill?' Naruto thought to himself. 'And why the hell do I start at level 5?'

**Sometimes, GAME allocates skill on the basis of the disposition of the player character, since your character is prone to being a sneak, the GAME gives you a higher level in this skill. Also certain requirements need to be completed for the GAME to actually give you a skill, and then, and only then will you learn this skill.**

'So I am a natural sneak, that makes sense, I have stolen a lot of stuff back when I was younger, those damn villagers really did charge me too much for it' Naruto thought to himself, gritting his teeth.

He activated Stealth and moved into the sneak mode, he noticed that his view had a reddish tint to it.

**In Stealth Mode, your own footsteps sound louder to you, this is done for creating a thrilling environmental effect and for indicating you are in stealth mode, this mode does not turn off normally, you need to turn it off.**

**Stealth Mode also reduces movement speed by 50%, which can be reduced by upgrading your skills. The list of things you can do without breaking stealth increase the higher your level goes and new things are added when skills are upgraded.**

'That explains it' Naruto thought sarcastically.

He began sneaking into the Hokage's office, the guard was really lax, because they were dozing off and Naruto had little trouble sneaking past them undetected. Naruto noticed a slight blip which indicated that his Stealth skill had leveled up. 'That was fast' Naruto thought, continuing to sneak slowly towards the office where Mizuki had told him the scroll was going to be kept.

He got there and realized that the Hokage was not in the building at all. 'He must have gone home' Naruto thought to himself, breathing a sigh of relief. This was going to make his life much, much easier.

As he finally reached the Hokage's office, he realized that the door was unlocked.

'What the fuck?' Naruto thought to himself. 'Why is this unlocked, it's not supposed to be unlocked like this'

That was true, because Naruto had been to the Hokage's office several times and when the Hokage was not around, even his assistant was not allowed inside, the keys to the office belonged to the Hokage himself and he opened it when he came in. Why was he being so irresponsible, as far as Naruto knew, the Hokage was a very cautious man who always kept the doors to his office locked when he wasn't around.

'Hmm, why am I complaining?' Naruto thought, chastising himself. 'I should be celebrating, this makes my job easier'

As he moved in, he saw that the scroll was on the table, waiting for him. He knew it was the scroll of seals because there was a nifty status bar above it that told him.

'There is no one in the damn office right, so why don't I just copy the Jutsus here eh? Then I can escape into the forest, it leaves the scroll here, which is convenient because that won't implicate me, I can just hide the copies of the scroll' Naruto thought to himself.

**The Genesis Of Uzumaki Naruto**

**Description: You failed the exam, but everything happens for a reason doesn't it? Find out your 'reason' Naruto.**

**Objectives:**

**1. Listen to Mizuki's instructions**

**2. Steal The Scroll Of Seals from The Hokage's Office**

**3. Learn a Jutsu from the copied scrolls.**

**BONUS AWARDED:**

**worked around stealing the scroll of seals, thus showing that you are willing to take advantage of the situation and can come up with a better solution. You receive +15 INT, +5 WIS.**

**Rewards: A Jutsu and +15 WIS**

'OH HELL YES' Naruto thought, internally he was screaming with joy.

He got to copying the scroll, his increased levels in sealing meant he was quickly able to make copies of the scroll, he was too busy to read what was written on the scroll, just blindly copying the scroll, he wrote separate Jutsus on separate scrolls so that he could learn all of them at a later date.

'Oh hell yes, I am too smart' Naruto thought to himself, before quickly hastening and completing the damn Jutsus. It took ten minutes and he had copied ten of the Jutsus, but he realized that there were a lot more than just ten Jutsus on there.

'I should quit when my luck is good' Naruto thought to himself before deciding that ten Jutsus were going to be enough.

'Now time to learn this bitch' Naruto thought, before sealing all the copies in a storage seal, which he tucked in his jacket. He then decided to take the quick exit, taking the window, which was quicker and would prevent him from taking the risk of sneaking back.

What Naruto did not realize that there was someone hidden in the room, it was the Professor and the man who was called the God of Shinobi, Hiruzen Sarutobi himself.

'What the hell are you doing, Naruto?' thought the old man, his face even more wrinkly than it normally was these days.

-x-

He was deep enough into the forest, and he figured that this was as good a spot as any to start learning, and so he pulled out the first scroll he could get his hands on.

**Shadow Clone Jutsu**

'Aw nuts, obviously the first one is a clone Jutsu' he thought, wiping sweat off his forehead.

**REQ: 150 VIT, 35 DEX**

**Do you want to learn this Jutsu?**

**(Y/N)**

'Hell yes I want to learn this Jutsu' Naruto thought to himself before clicking on the yes option, immediately the scroll burned as he felt the knowledge seep into him.

**Shadow Clones (Lvl 1): There's more of us, and we're all real.  
****ACTIVE: Create up to 15 corporeal clones.  
****ACTIVE: Divides your CP by two for every clone made, clones have memory feedback. The more CP the clones have the more durable the clones are.**

**The Genesis Of Uzumaki Naruto**

**Description: You failed the exam, but everything happens for a reason doesn't it? Find out your 'reason' Naruto.**

**Objectives:**

**1. Listen to Mizuki's instructions**

**2. Steal The Scroll Of Seals from The Hokage's Office**

**3. Learn a Jutsu from the copied scrolls.**

**4. Practice the Shadow Clone Jutsu**

**BONUS AWARDED:**

**Worked around stealing the scroll of seals, thus showing that you are willing to take advantage of the situation and can come up with a better solution. You receive +15 INT, +5 WIS.**

**Rewards: A Jutsu and +15 WIS**

-x-

Naruto learned something else that could be a big difference, almost half an hour had passed while he was absorbing the scroll, which told him that while time slowed for him, it moved at a rapid pace for everyone else while he learned a scroll. He decided to play around a bit with it and had already leveled the skill up by three levels, which was impressive. He could now create up to 35 clones, and the best thing was that they were all solid clones, and they seemed to be able to do their own Jutsus.

"GRINDING TIME" Naruto shouted happily, if this memory feedback meant that clones earned their own XP and sent it over to him, he was going to be badass in no time at all. He decided to learn another Jutsu, maybe he could find something clone related. And as luck would have it, he found one and learned it as quickly as possible.

**Exploding Shadow Clones (Lvl 1): Don't touch me baby, I'm dynamite  
****ACTIVE: Create up to 5 corporeal clones that can explode upon command.  
****ACTIVE: Divides your CP by two for every clone made, also costs 200 extra CP for every clone made**

**The Genesis Of Uzumaki Naruto**

**Description: You failed the exam, but everything happens for a reason doesn't it? Find out your 'reason' Naruto.**

**Objectives:**

**1. Listen to Mizuki's instructions**

**2. Steal The Scroll Of Seals from The Hokage's Office**

**3. Learn a Jutsu from the copied scrolls.**

**4. Practice the Shadow Clone Jutsu**

**5. Get out of hot water with Iruka Umino**

**BONUS AWARDED:**

**1. Worked around stealing the scroll of seals, thus showing that you are willing to take advantage of the situation and can come up with a better solution. You receive +15 INT, +5 WIS.**

**2. Learned an extra Jutsu. +10 DEX**

'Not that I don't appreciate the bonus, but what the hell does getting out of hot water with Iruka sensei mean exactly?'

And like clockwork, his question was answered.

"NARUTO, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING SNEAKING INTO THE HOKAGE'S OFFICE?" came a loud voice.

"Oh fuck" Naruto said out loud, not even caring that Iruka was going to smack him for that.

"I can explain" Naruto said, while subconsciously moving back. Man, Iruka could be really scary when he wanted to be.

"Oh really, how can you explain, Naruto?" Iruka asked him, his tone sounded very threatening.

"Yeah, I learned a Jutsu from the scroll of seals, doesn't that mean I am now going to pass?" Naruto asked Iruka, who looked dumbfounded.

"What does that mean? Who told you that?" Iruka asked him and Naruto felt his heart sink. He put two and two together pretty quickly after that.

"Mizuki Sensei did of course, he told me that he was going to come here. I was supposed to steal the scroll of seals and learn a Jutsu from it, demonstrate to him and he would return the scroll to the Hokage and I would pass" he said to Iruka.

"And you believed all that?" Iruka said. He was shocked at what was clearly betrayal from Mizuki, he was going to steal the scroll for himself.

"Ah, Naruto" a new voice called out from a distance, it revealed itself to be Mizuki's voice, as he jumped from a tree and landed on the ground, directly in between Iruka and Naruto.

"Mizuki" Iruka said. "I need you to explain yourself, right fucking now"

"No" Mizuki said with a sneer. Naruto had never seen him like this, the look in eyes wasn't the usual benevolence that he had come to accept from Mizuki, no, this was more evil.

"What do you mean no?" Iruka asked him.

"I don't want to explain anything to you, I don't know why the Hokage didn't raise an alarm, but it was smart of me to expect you to personally go and apprehend the demon trash" Mizuki said to him. "Now, Naruto, hand me the scroll of seals, and you will earn your headband"

"Naruto, do not hand him anything" Iruka said to him.

"I don't have the scroll anyway" Naruto said to Mizuki.

Mizuki's face changed, from a sneer to pure rage. "What does that mean, didn't you steal the scroll?" Mizuki asked him.

"Nope, just copied it. I figured that since the important thing was learning a Jutsu from the scroll like you said, I wouldn't even have to steal it, so I merely copied some Jutsus, and it worked, because I learned two of the Jutsus from the scroll"

'Two Jutsus from that scroll?' Iruka thought, he was surprised by that.

"YOU IDIOT" Mizuki shouted, his eyes flashing red in anger. Naruto was quickly surrounded by a feeling of dread, but it immediately passed as Mizuki calmed down.

"I shouldn't get too angry, I didn't expect anything from useless trash like you" Mizuki said to Naruto. "After all, you are a demon"

"MIZUKI, NO YOU IDIOT, THAT SECRET IS PUNISHABLE BY DEATH" Iruka shouted, in a futile attempt to stop Mizuki from spilling the ultimate, dreadful secret.

"Oh no, I think he should know" Mizuki said smiling. "Don't you want to know, Naruto, haven't you ever wondered why you are so.. hated?" Mizuki asked him.

**The Genesis Of Uzumaki Naruto**

**Description: You failed the exam, but everything happens for a reason doesn't it? Find out your 'reason' Naruto.**

**Objectives:**

**1. Listen to Mizuki's instructions**

**2. Steal The Scroll Of Seals from The Hokage's Office**

**3. Learn a Jutsu from the copied scrolls.**

**4. Practice the Shadow Clone Jutsu**

**5. Get out of hot water with Iruka Umino**

**6. Learn your 'reason'**

**BONUS AWARDED:**

**1. Worked around stealing the scroll of seals, thus showing that you are willing to take advantage of the situation and can come up with a better solution. You receive +15 INT, +5 WIS.**

**2. Learned an extra Jutsu. +10 DEX**

"Not now" Naruto groaned, dismissing the status as it popped up.

"Oh no, no Naruto, I think the time is now, time to learn what you really are, Naruto Uzumaki" Mizuki said to Naruto.

"MIZUKI, SHUT UP" Iruka shouted, he was still trying to defuse the situation. "Turn yourself in, and this situation can still be sorted out"

"No" Mizuki said to Iruka. "The boy wants to hear it obviously, look at it, the hopeful expression on his face" Mizuki said to him.

It was true, Naruto had been desperate to learn about anything that involved his past that he couldn't help but feel hopeful.

"You see, Naruto, thirteen years ago, on your birthday in fact, the village was attacked by a fox, I'm sure you've read the stories and heard the tales of the great, nine tailed fox that had attacked the village, not that anyone talks to you" Mizuki said, every word seemed to sting Naruto.

"But the fox isn't really a thing that lives, Naruto, because it's just a massive construct of Chakra, and chakra is indestructible, it replenishes itself and reforms itself, you can never really destroy it, and so too, this fox was also indestructible." Mizuki said to Naruto.

"No" Naruto and Iruka muttered simultaneously.

"And so the fourth Hokage didn't kill the fox as the stories seem to suggest. The adults in the village really know what happened, Naruto, the fox was sealed, in the youngest possible baby that could be found. And that baby, happened to be you, Naruto Uzumaki."

"That is not true, it can't be true" Naruto said, even though deep down it all made sense.

"Don't deny it Naruto, you are the demon now, it was sealed in you and now it has become you, Naruto. That is why you have those fox like whiskers and that is why you are the fox, and that is your truth, Naruto, you are Naruto Uzumaki, the demon fox hidden in the leaf" Mizuki finished.

"No, Mizuki" Iruka said. "What the hell have you done?"

Naruto kept staring, before he was pulled into a black void.

-x-

**The Genesis Of Uzumaki Naruto**

**Description: You failed the exam, but everything happens for a reason doesn't it? Find out your 'reason' Naruto.**

**Objectives:**

**1. Listen to Mizuki's instructions**

**2. Steal The Scroll Of Seals from The Hokage's Office**

**3. Learn a Jutsu from the copied scrolls.**

**4. Practice the Shadow Clone Jutsu**

**5. Get out of hot water with Iruka Umino**

**6. Meet the Nine Tailed Fox**

**BONUS AWARDED:**

**1. Worked around stealing the scroll of seals, thus showing that you are willing to take advantage of the situation and can come up with a better solution. You receive +15 INT, +5 WIS.**

**2. Learned an extra Jutsu. +10 DEX**

**"You idiot"** a voice grumbled, Naruto realized that he was in a very dark place, and that was literal.

"Who are you?" Naruto shouted, in a lame attempt to sound brave.

**"Meet your prisoner, they call me the nine tailed fox, you know, Kyuubi?"** the voice grumbled, and suddenly the area where the voice seemed to be coming from was illuminated.

"Kyu-Kyuubi?" Naruto shouted in fear, taking a step back.

The great fox laughed, and Naruto finally observed the prison that the fox was in. There seemed to be a spiral seal in place of the lock that caged the fox.

**"Did you really think life would be easy just because it was a video game?"** the fox asked him.

"You know" Naruto mumbled, everything he had seen in the last five minutes had rendered him incapable of saying anything else.

**"I live inside you Uzumaki brat, of course I know"** the fox said, his voice was sinister and struck fear in Naruto's heart.

"I didn't choose for it to be this way" Naruto said. "I didn't want to be in the game"

**"And yet you welcomed it, without wondering why you were in it, why you were chosen?"** the fox asked him.

Naruto had wondered that once, but he had read the manual that was in his house, there were other players too, other players who had taken part in the game, so he assumed he was not alone.

"There were other players, it said so in the manual" Naruto said to the fox. There was a moment of silence, before the fox laughed.

**"Other players? You cannot possibly be that naive. You see, Naruto, I am a demon, and I am aware of this universe. I don't mean the planet, I mean the Universe"** the fox said to him.

**"And let me tell you something, Naruto, those other players, they aren't really other players, they are all just different versions of you, Naruto"** the fox finished, there was a tone of finality in his voice.

"What- what do you mean?" Naruto asked him.

**"I mean you are not playing the game, Naruto, the game is playing you"** the fox said to him.

**"I am not A demon fox, Naruto, I am THE demon fox"** the fox said, stressing on the articles 'a' and 'the'. **"The tricks that work on mere mortals do not work on me, because I am not a mere mortal. The creators of this so called GAME you are playing can fool you, but they can't fool me, I'm infinitely more self-aware than that, and so I know everything that happens in the other universes, Naruto"** the fox continued.

"No" Naruto said. "No, no, no" he chanted repeatedly, hoping to wake up from whatever nightmare he was in.

**"Oh yes"** the fox said. **"Every game you have played, Naruto, I have been a part of, and they all start a month before you graduate, and they all end with your death, and your death depends on how you play the game, which is why, Naruto, you have been playing this game for ages, and ages. Forever and ever, and you will continue to play this stupid game, there won't ever be an end to this nonsense, because the minute you were marked, you were done for, there was no respite, for you and for me. You are doomed to play this game without being aware of having played it before, and I am doomed to remember every damn time you have played the game, and I can never tell you anything that might spoil the story, so I have to keep my mouth shut"** the fox finished.

"Then why are you telling me this?" Naruto asked him. "Isn't this a spoiler too?"

The fox laughed, actually laughed this time, and it lasted for two whole minutes before it finally stopped.

**"They don't care, Naruto" **the fox said to him, **"You think the GAME loves you, the GAME is making things easier for you right? But all it will ever get you in the long run, is death. And you won't die, Naruto, because the game won't let you die so easily, but your friends will, your lovers will, your children will. This game will strip away everything from you, without a care in the world, and all you'll be left with is yourself, and then you'll die too. But you won't move on, you'll wake up here, doomed to repeat"** the fox said to him.

Naruto stared at the fox, he was silent.

**"Still don't believe me? Come on, let me show you my memories"** the fox said and Naruto was suddenly transported to what seemed like the village. And in front of him flashed pictures, Naruto hand in hand with Sakura, they seemed to be in love.

**"This was your previous playthrough, I can't tell you a lot, but you married Sakura and you had three kids"** the fox said to him.

"That is highly implausible" Naruto said dryly.

**"And now, the playthrough before" **the fox said to him, flashing back, showing him images of Naruto as the Hokage. Everything else was blacked out, but there he was sitting at the desk, before a woman came in, and Naruto realized that she was Ino.

**"The Yamanaka brat was your wife in that one"** the fox said to him.

**"And now this, this was one of your earlier ones, you have been doing this for so long that I can't remember which one this was but this is one of my favorites"**

And then Naruto saw it, the same village, but this time it was burning. He was cradling the dead body of Hinata Hyuuga, tears streaming down his face.

**"That's what happens when you take this GAME lightly, Naruto. You might be fine, because you are the so called 'chosen one' but the others, they die. They lose their lives, Naruto"**

"Why..." Naruto said, those images had actually brought tears to his eyes.

**"I don't know, Naruto. I've come to respect you over our several playthroughs, but every time, the reason is different"** the fox said to him.

"So..so what should I do?" the Naruto asked the fox.

**"Be careful"** the fox said to him. **"And don't take things for granted, the GAME is adaptable and changes, it does guide you wherever possible but one different step and you can tear the world asunder and create a different future for yourself, it's about the only thing that keeps me interested, observing the changes each playthrough brings"**

"Why didn't you tell me all this sooner?" Naruto asked him.

**"The game doesn't let me" **the fox said simply.

"And the point of telling me all this?" Naruto asked him.

**"It's better you learn it from me and as soon as possible, so that you can accept that there won't be eternal rest after death, Naruto. Maybe that is why they chose you, because you don't want to rest, so accept your fate. That's all you can do anyway"**

Naruto nodded. "So, you and I are one eh?"

**"Not yet kid, not yet. Maybe someday we will though, but don't let what Mizuki said wind you up. He does that almost every playthrough, and Iruka defends you every playthrough"**

"So I guess it's time to go then" Naruto said to him.

**"Yes, and let me observe, there is not much use for me right now, and I really prefer to rest, so don't bother me often, kid"** the fox said to him. Naruto nodded before the dark void disappeared and he found himself back in the forest.

-x-

**The Genesis Of Uzumaki Naruto**

**Description: You failed the exam, but everything happens for a reason doesn't it? Find out your 'reason' Naruto.**

**Objectives:**

**1. Listen to Mizuki's instructions**

**2. Steal The Scroll Of Seals from The Hokage's Office**

**3. Learn a Jutsu from the copied scrolls.**

**4. Practice the Shadow Clone Jutsu**

**5. Get out of hot water with Iruka Umino**

**6. Learn your reason**

**7. Become a ninja of the Hidden Leaf**

**BONUS AWARDED:**

**1. Worked around stealing the scroll of seals, thus showing that you are willing to take advantage of the situation and can come up with a better solution. You receive +15 INT, +5 WIS.**

**2. Learned an extra Jutsu. +10 DEX**

'Yes' Naruto thought reading the status window, this was awesome.

"NARUTO, NO" Iruka shouted and suddenly Naruto realized that there was no pausing when he was reading the status messages. From the corner of his eye he saw Mizuki throw a knife at him, but he couldn't dodge, it was too late. Time seemed to slow down as Naruto realized that his current game was probably already over, but before he knew it, Iruka was in front of him.

The kunai struck him right in the heart.

And then Naruto felt rage. Rage like he had never felt before, and a voice telling him to give into the rage, to become the monster everyone thought he was.

**Skill 'Second Wind' upgraded.**

**Berserker (Lvl 1): Lose yourself.  
****ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded.  
****ACTIVE: Go berserk with the Kyuubi's chakra, doubling every single stat for five minutes.  
****ACTIVE: Heal injuries and restore 25% of total HP.  
****ACTIVE: Can be used once in 24 hours.**

'This **feels **good' Naruto thought to himself as he cracked his neck and looked at Mizuki, whose triumphant sneer was replaced with a look of fear.

And then Naruto lost it completely, as he charged at Mizuki, there were no clones, or any other Jutsus for that matter, all he was going to use was his fist, and it was going to hurt.

-x-

It took him five minutes but when he was finished, Mizuki was dead, and his body was unrecognizable. His face was bashed in, it looked like he was run over by a train, and all of a sudden Naruto was filled with the urge to puke.

**FIRST BLOOD: Naruto Uzumaki kills Mizuki**

Naruto grit his teeth as he dismissed the status message.

He resisted the urge to puke before turning around and looking at Iruka Umino, who was already bleeding like a gusher.

"Iruka sensei" Naruto rushed over to him. He propped Iruka against a tree and was about to get him help when Iruka spoke.

"It's useless, Naruto, I should have learned some healing Jutsus" Iruka said to him. Struggling to speak.

"It's a knife, Iruka sensei, it's going to be okay" Naruto said to him.

"A chakra infused knife that hit me straight in the heart, Naruto, I have maybe two more minutes" Iruka said struggling to speak.

"If you can shut up" Naruto said, now the tears were really falling. "You can have more"

"Naruto.. do the Jutsu, what did you learn?" Iruka asked him.

"Huh?" Naruto said, taken aback. Before realizing what Iruka was saying and deciding to show him the **Shadow Clone**.

"You.. you were right" Iruka said to Naruto who then dismissed the clone. "You- you did have too much chakra"

"Iruka sensei, you are freaking me out, please stop saying things like these. I should have worked harder" Naruto said through tears.

"No" Iruka said. "I should have understood, you.. you have the fox, Naruto. I never thought you were the fox, maybe at first, but you did win me over"

Naruto remained silent. In the distance he felt shadows approaching him, the Hokage had arrived with his ANBU squad. He looked up at them, the Hokage seemed sad.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU STARING AT?" Naruto shouted. "SAVE HIM. HEAL HIM. COME ON"

"They know it's too late, Naruto. Listen- I should have been more understanding" Iruka said to him.

"You were, you were one of the few who cared, Iruka sensei" Naruto said to him.

"That.. that's good to hear, Naruto, but listen to me, take off my headband" he said to Naruto, who complied with Iruka.

"Put it.. put it on" Iruka said to him.

"Iruka sensei" Naruto said, he had thought that his crying would stop, but it wasn't really going to stop anytime soon.

"Put it on" Iruka said forcefully. Naruto put on the headband.

"You won me over, Naruto, because you have a power, a great power. You don't know it yet, but I see it in you, everybody does. They are afraid of your legacy, of what you were chosen to do, but you are their protector, Naruto" Iruka said to him.

"You.. you are the number one, most unpredictable, the most hyperactive knucklehead I have ever seen, Naruto, and everyone will see it one day, because I want you to promise me to show them your worth, I want you to-" Iruka coughed, spitting some blood, his death was imminent. "show them your worth, like you showed me, don't give up, I know you won't, but I'm telling you anyway. That- that is an order. Uzumaki Naruto, Genin of the village of Konohagakure"

**Iruka Umino quest chain failed.**

"Naruto" the third Hokage had already arrived, and pulled him into a hug.

Iruka Umino died with a smile on his face, leaning against the tree.

**STORY QUEST (1/?) COMPLETE:**

**The Genesis Of Uzumaki Naruto**

**Description: You failed the exam, but everything happens for a reason doesn't it? And your reason is that you are chosen Naruto, you were chosen to achieve great things and this GAME is just a medium to achieve these things. There is always loss in life and you might have lost your first mentor but life goes on, because you have a job to do.**

**Objectives:**

**1. Listen to Mizuki's instructions**

**2. Steal The Scroll Of Seals from The Hokage's Office**

**3. Learn a Jutsu from the copied scrolls.**

**4. Practice the Shadow Clone Jutsu**

**5. Get out of hot water with Iruka Umino**

**6. Learn your reason**

**7. Become a ninja of the Hidden Leaf**

**BONUS AWARDED:**

**1. Worked around stealing the scroll of seals, thus showing that you are willing to take advantage of the situation and can come up with a better solution. You receive +15 INT, +5 WIS.**

**2. Learned an extra Jutsu. +10 DEX**

**QUEST REWARD: +15 WIS**

As Naruto left the clearing, in a daze as the Hokage gently guided him, he realized the game wasn't really fun anymore.

**Naruto Uzumaki, Lvl 10, The Gamer.**

**STR: 26**

**DEX: 49**

**VIT: 268**

**INT: 71**

**WIS: 45**

**LUK: 300+**

**Information:**

**HP: 4020**

**CP: 2680**

**Run (Lvl 19): Run Boy, Run  
****ACTIVE: Break out into a run, increased speed by 100%  
****PASSIVE: Regain Stamina 39% quicker**

**Ninja Substitution (Lvl 20): Stop in the name of the log.  
****ACTIVE: Replace yourself with another object to get out of a spot of bother. Works over 90 meters. Cast time is 0.8 seconds. Cost: 10 CP, 1 unfortunate object.**

**Observe (Lvl 17): No shit Sherlock.  
****ACTIVE: Analyze your target to find more about them (or it). Higher levels will lead to more discoveries.**

**Kunai Skill (Lvl 20):****Yes, that is a knife in my pocket.  
****PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 100% with knives.  
****PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 50% with two or more knives.  
****PASSIVE: Increased damage by 100% with knives.  
****ACTIVE: Throw five knives at a singular target, causing 150% more damage. Cost CP:10, Kunai:3**

**Shuriken Skill (Lvl 14):****I throw for the kill.  
****PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 84% with Shuriken  
****PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 42% with multiple Shuriken  
****PASSIVE: Increased Shuriken Damage by 70%  
****ACTIVE: Throw eight shuriken at one target. Increased 60% damage from Shuriken.**

**Ninja Transformation (Lvl 20): I don't remember what I look like anymore.  
****ACTIVE: Transform into someone else, effectiveness increases with increased WIS. 100% more effective transformations. Cost 10 CP per minute.**

**Cooking (Lvl 20): DON'T QUESTION THE MAN WITH THE HAT!  
****ACTIVE: Cook food. 60% reduced chance of failure in attempting a dish.  
****ACTIVE: Enhancements on food are 10% stronger.  
****PASSIVE: Your food tastes better.**

**Basic ****Fūinjutsu**** (Lvl 25, MAX): My lips are sealed.  
****ACTIVE: Create Seals for your usage.  
****ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded  
****PASSIVE: Your seals are 50% better.**

**Explosion Tag (Lvl 24): True art is explosion. BOOM!  
****ACTIVE: Create a tag that explodes after a custom amount of time. COST: 75 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 50 Seconds  
****PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by half**

**Storage Seal (Lvl 22): Space? I got space.  
****ACTIVE: Create a storage seal capable of sealing objects. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 425 Seconds.  
****PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by half**

**Smoke Bomb Seal (Lvl 10) : This shit might give you cancer  
****ACTIVE: Create a seal that gives smoke when it goes off, thus temporarily blinding your enemy. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls, 140 Seconds  
****PASSIVE: The blinding effect is 30% more effective and lasts 25% longer.**

**Bullshitting (Lvl 1): You don't know what I am saying? Well, neither do I.  
****ACTIVE: Bullshit your way out of a sticky situation, this is a type of skill test. LUK requirements reduced by 2%**

**Release (max): Not that type of release, although that is also welcome.  
****ACTIVE: Release a particular seal. (In case of timed seals, it ends the timer prematurely)**

**Berserker (Lvl 1): Lose yourself.  
****ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded.  
****ACTIVE: Go berserk with the Kyuubi's chakra, doubling every single stat for five minutes.  
****ACTIVE: Heal injuries and restore 25% of total HP.  
****ACTIVE: Can be used once in 24 hours.**

**Store Haggling (Lvl 2): Everybody has a price.  
****PASSIVE: Bargain with store keepers for buying and selling, with a 10% chance of success**

**Stealth (Lvl 6) : Silent, but deadly.  
****ACTIVE: Skill is upgradable  
****ACTIVE: Go into sneak mode, reducing the noise you make, the staple of any ninja  
****PASSIVE: It is 24% difficult to detect you when you are sneaking  
****PASSIVE: When sneaking, knife damage is increased by 54%**

**OMAKE**

* * *

**Game Manual Part 13**

**NPC Death**

**Sometimes people die, and it can happen to someone close to you. People close to you will die, and when that happens your stats might be negatively affected. The only way to cure this disease is to move on and try to live life as you usually do. Death of a certain character will lead to you failing their quest line.**

**Game Manual Part 33**

**Stealth**

**Stealth is obviously very important for the player characters as you are a ninja and it is your staple after all. Stealth can be upgraded several times and reduces your movement speed, but experienced sneakers are so good, they spend most of their time inside Stealth mode rather than outside.**

* * *

**If you loved Iruka. I'm sorry. I don't actually know how long it takes for a knife to the heart to kill, but please assume for story purposes that Iruka lived long enough to deliver that monologue.**

**So Naruto has played the game before, but is unaware of it. This idea came from an actual time travel fanfic called 'All Is Relative, Except The Stubbornness Of A Demon' by Uncle Stojil, which is a great fic you guys should check out, it has been dead for a while though. **

**Iruka's death was necessary for Naruto's character to develop, he's going to stop taking things too lightly and is going to start maturing more than he did in the cannon. I'll eventually explain more about GAME because I have more stuff planned, but always remember this, in works of fiction, the universe is in the hands of a mortal, and the characters in the universe become that mortal's playthings, which is exactly what Naruto is, a Cosmic Plaything.**

**I do have another question for you guys. Now this was not going to be a Team 7 fic in any way, but I want to know which team you'd like Naruto to be on. I have made up my mind already on what Naruto will do, but I just want to know the best three man team or any other combination you guys can think of, so be sure to leave one in your review or send me a PM. But don't forget to review.**

**Later, Zap**


	6. Crawler Killer

**Holy shit you guys loved that last chapter, I hope I can keep getting awesome reviews for all my future chapters. Keep giving me that love and I'll be motivated to writing this thing, because I really want this to be the one that goes the long haul. Let's make it happen people.**

**I'd like to thank malcolm, he's a fantastic beta.**

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR THE GAMER.**

* * *

Naruto stared at the photos of the past Hokages in a daze. It had already been almost sun dawn but Naruto didn't seem to care, he hadn't spoken to anyone for the last three hours and honestly preferred it that way.

His crying had probably stopped about an hour after the Hokage had taken him to his office, it wasn't because he wanted to stop crying, it was because Naruto was all cried out.

Iruka was the only one who seemed to give a damn about Naruto in this village. He was there with a ramen treat on his birthday and got angry when Naruto slacked off, Naruto did not like it then, but maybe it was his improved wisdom that told him Iruka only got mad at Naruto because he had high hopes for him and recognized his potential.

'It was my fault' Naruto thought, looking back at the whole incident. He was reading a status message the stupid game had sent him and had gotten distracted, which allowed the traitor Mizuki to throw a knife at him, and he was too distracted to do anything, and so Iruka had to take the knife for him.

"My fault" Naruto let out, his voice much less loud than any other time when he was being boisterous, the enormity of the situation hit him. He was responsible for the death of the person who was easily the closest to Naruto.

"Naruto?" it was the old man, and Naruto looked up at him. The Third Hokage was obviously also feeling the effects of Iruka's death, the wrinkles on his face seemed more pronounced than before, and it made him look like he had aged almost ten years in a couple of hours.

"He was close to me too, Naruto" the old man took his pipe and lit it up. He looked at Naruto, who was still silent and didn't seem like he was going to say anytime soon.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Naruto's question almost shocked the Hokage, who sputtered and coughed on smoke before pulling the pipe out of his mouth.

"Tell you what?" he asked Naruto.

"You know, the fact that I have a giant, demonic, nine tailed fox sealed in me. When did you decide to conveniently leave that part out huh?" Naruto asked him.

"Naruto" the old man said, there was a lot of regret in his voice. "I wanted to tell you, believe me, I did, but you were not ready"

Naruto laughed, not his usual laugh of course, this one was filled with sarcasm. "Oh I was not ready" Naruto mimed, in an exaggerated tone.

"All this time, all these years of sadness and loneliness and I thought it was my fault, but it wasn't my fault was it? It was your fault, and the stupid Fourth Hokage's fault, for sealing a fucking demon fox inside me" Naruto's voice got louder with each and every word.

"Why did you choose me of all people, old man? I can't possibly have been the only baby available that day, so why me?" Naruto asked him. "Why the fuck did the Yondaime have to seal the monster in me"

"Because Naruto" the old man sighed at Naruto's tone, his anger saddened him more "He felt that you were strong enough to take the fox and chain it"

"Strong enough" Naruto snorted. "You can't possibly be serious, I was a god damn baby, how the hell was I going to be strong enough to seal the damn fox?"

"And yet, it has been thirteen years and you have managed to do just that" Naruto fell silent at the old man's statement.

That was true, whatever the Fourth Hokage had done was good enough that he was completely unaware of the presence of a giant demon fox inside of him.

"And what did Iruka say about a secret punishable by death, what does that mean?" Naruto asked the old man.

The old man gulped, Naruto was going to be pissed after this. "When the Fourth Hokage sealed the fox in you, it was his wish that you be viewed as a hero, which is what you are for containing the fox. It wasn't supposed to be known to a lot of people, but somehow word got out that the fox was sealed in a baby, and soon everyone found out that it was you that the fox was sealed in"

"The news was not taken well" Sarutobi continued. "By the villagers I mean, they didn't understand the complexities of sealing, and do you blame them? There aren't many ninja who understand it either. But it was enough and rumor began to spread"

"I wanted to give you a shot, Naruto, I wanted to make sure that you had friends to fall back on, because your life was going to be hard without them. So I made your secret an S-Ranked secret that was punishable by death, hoping that the younger generation grew up without being prejudiced towards you" the Hokage finished.

"Very good" Naruto said sarcastically. "It clearly worked, look at me everyone, I'm the fucking life of the party"

"I understand your anger, and I understand your sadness too, Naruto, but I only did what I felt seemed right at that time. Believe me, it wasn't my intention to have you grow up in this way. If it were up to me, I wouldn't even have let word of your sealing get out, but it did get out. I tried looking for the person who did it, but I never found them"

The room fell silent again, and Naruto began fiddling around with his head band.

"It suits you, Naruto" the old man said to him.

"I don't deserve it" Naruto fired back.

"Why not?"

"I had to kill someone to take it"

"If you are talking about Mizuki, I think he deserved it. It was pretty brutal but it was what was going to happen to him anyway" the old man assuaged Naruto. "Plus you learned two very useful Jutsu from the scroll and you didn't even actually steal the scroll. I can just tell everyone that I gave you permission to copy some scrolls and you'll be in the clear"

"I'm not talking about Mizuki" Naruto sneered. "If anything, I'm glad that I killed that traitor. I'm talking about Iruka"

"You need to stop blaming yourself for his death, Naruto" the old man grabbed Naruto's shoulders and shook him. "It's not your fault"

Naruto broke down, being told it was not his fault when it was clearly his fault. It was always his fault, everything that had happened was his fault. The reason his life was a videogame was probably his fault too.

"Naruto" the old man's voice sounded painful. "It's not your fault"

"I was distracted, old man, I don't know why, I could have dodged that knife" Naruto began crying again. "And even before that, I thought it was suspicious I-" it was getting harder to speak through sobs. "It was suspicious, what Mizuki was offering but I went along with it anyway I should have told someone, I should have stopped myself, but I got greedy and I got stupid"

"What else were you supposed to do, Naruto? You had failed and Mizuki gave you hope. I don't blame you for not acting on your suspicions. If I were you, I wouldn't have"

"If you were me" Naruto said dryly. "You wouldn't have failed the shinobi exams because you were not useless like me"

"Naruto" the old man was appalled. "You are not useless, you have a lot of talent"

"All that talent and I couldn't manage a single clone"

"You had too much chakra, Naruto, and you can do clones now. I don't understand why you're blaming yourself" the old man said.

"This all happened because I failed. Had I not failed, Iruka wouldn't have died. It's all my fault" Naruto said, before getting up. "I want to go, can I?" he asked the Hokage.

"Yes" the Hokage said to him. "Listen, Naruto" Naruto stopped at the door. "It's not your fault"

-x-

"Listen you stupid GAME" Naruto said. He was on the monument, it was still early in the morning, no one would be up.

"I don't want to play you anymore" Naruto said, if anyone could see him, he'd look insane. His eyes were red from all the crying, he hadn't slept in almost 30 hours now and his body was beginning to heat up "I understand that I don't have a choice, so explain yourself about the previous playthroughs. Now"

There was no status message. Naruto smiled.

"That's what I thought. Does your creator have nothing to say to me anymore?" Naruto asked the game mockingly.

**Previous Playthroughs are classified.**

"Bullshit" Naruto said. "You will tell me about previous playthroughs or I will kill myself" Naruto said, pulling out a knife and placing it against his throat.

"And then the game will end right?" Naruto said.

**The GAME will not allow you to kill yourself.**

And then, like magic, the knife in his hand disappeared.

"So you can control the universe, how long are you going to try to prevent me from killing myself"

**Until you no longer want to.**

"That is never going to happen then" Naruto said darkly.

**Do you really want to kill yourself. Is that what you think Iruka wanted from you?**

***Flashback***

_"You won me over, Naruto, because you have a power, a great power. You don't know it yet, but I see it in you, everybody does. They are afraid of your legacy, of what you were chosen to do, but you are their protector, Naruto" Iruka said to him._

_"You.. you are the number one, most unpredictable, the most hyperactive knucklehead I have ever seen, Naruto, and everyone will see it one day, because I want you to promise me to show them your worth, I want you to-" Iruka coughed, spitting some blood, his death was imminent. "show them your worth, like you showed me, don't give up, I know you won't, but I'm telling you anyway. That- that is an order. Uzumaki Naruto, Genin of the village of Konohagakure"_

***End Flashback***

Naruto grit his teeth. It was Iruka's last wish that he move on and show everyone what he was worth, and he was damn well going to honor that last wish.

"So you have a knife at my throat. Fine, I'll keep playing" Naruto said, spitting on the ground to indicate his displeasure. "But here is one thing you need to stop, these status messages, they pop up at all the wrong times and they make life miserable for me, I won't have another person die"

**Changed game notifications to push status, new notifications will show up in the corner of your screen and can be read at your own time.**

Naruto smiled. "Good"

"Now" he said smiling as he pulled out a knife. "Time to vent my frustration"

-x-

**Training Ground 73- Inner Area**

**Recommended for players of Lvl 10- Lvl 15**

Naruto stared at the inner areas of the training ground, he hadn't bothered venturing here before because he felt that he was too low level, but he wasn't really too keen on surviving as of late, and so he found himself here. He was sure that he was going to get killed, and to a degree he thought it was stupid, but he realized that he needed to stop being naive, and stop second guessing himself. All his life, he had craved adulation and love from the people around him, but no matter what he did, no one ever gave it to him, and then when a person came along and did give him respect, he lost his life.

'And it was all my fault' Naruto thought sadly.

'It's a mistake I will never, ever make again. Ever'

Naruto saw two spiders, he wasn't surprised to see there were more here. The whole ground seemed to be full of them.

"Hey web-crawlers" he said as the spiders turned towards the direction of the voice. He created two clones on the side so that he could farm the experience he was going to get.

"COME ON" he shouted and charged into battle.

What followed was two hours of spider killing fun that Naruto had never had before, each time his knife plunged into the spiders, he felt some of his sadness and anger leave him. By the time he was done, he was surrounded by a mass of dead spider bodies.

Naruto went about collecting the silk that the spiders seemed to drop, they'd fetch him a nice price from the shop. He looked at the several notifications that had pooled up in the corner, at least that was one problem solved.

**You have leveled up, you are now Level 11**

**You have leveled up, you are now Level 12.**

**You have 20 skill points that have not been allocated.**

**Title Gained: Crawler Killer- Killed 500 spiders.**

Naruto stared at the notification that was about titles. What the hell were titles.

Another notification popped up and Naruto took a quick look at it.

**Titles: Titles are gained when a player character achieves something, they can be completely useless, or they can be extremely useful. Some titles can only be achieved by following the story path, while some others can be sought out and achieved by completing a set of tasks.**

**A person can only have three titles active at a time, so they need to be equipped from the menu screen.**

'Hmm, so these are like Achievements that have their own rewards?' Naruto wondered. 'Show me what my title can do'

**Crawler Killer: Unfriendly neighborhood Spiderman!**

**REWARDS: Moves against spiders cause 50% more damage.**

**Would you like to equip this title?**

Naruto decided that yes, he did want to equip this title.

-x-

**The Hokage's Office.**

Kakashi Hatake was a very lazy man, it didn't take asking his colleagues to tell anyone that, it was just his demeanor that told you everything you needed to know about the man. He had the trademark Hatake silver hair, and wore a mask, to honor his father, the famous 'White Fang' of Konoha, he wore the mask as a badge of honor and as a shield, to cover the gift given to him by his best friend.

A Sharingan.

The room was filled with smoke, as the Hokage stared at his best Jounin in the village. He seemed uninterested even now, the death of his trusty Chunin Iruka Umino had thrown all plans into a tail spin and now Hatake was here to help decide the teams for the new graduates.

"I don't understand Lord Hokage" Kakashi said, even his tone was lazy and it sounded like he had just woken up, or had fallen asleep. "I am not really the best person to decide the teams after all, I don't know much about these kids"

"Perhaps you should have tried harder, because you are going to take one of the teams in this group Kakashi, and you know that" the Hokage said, not particularly impressed by Kakashi's statement as he blew some more smoke from his pipe.

"Nah" Kakashi waved his hand to dispel some of the smoke. "I have said this before, Naruto is sensei's son, I owe it to him and sensei and I want to take him on as an apprentice, and I've said this several times"

"No" the Hokage said firmly. "You have no idea what that's going to look like to the council when they hear about it, plus, don't you also owe your Uchiha best friend a favor? They're going to ask you to take Sasuke Uchiha in your team as well"

"Sasuke Uchiha is talented and will reach his potential, he doesn't exactly need a good teacher to help him do it" Kakashi explained. "A competent one who can sate his ego will be enough for him, it's going to be harder for him to form ties to this village, seeing as how his only tie was brutally murdered by his brother"

"The Uchiha Massacre was a most unfortunate incident I agree" the Hokage had a pensive look on his face. "There were several mistakes I made that I'm afraid have ruined Sasuke's chance at having a normal life"

"We are shinobi Hokage-sama, we never have a normal life"

"Your sensei hoped to restore some normalcy" the Hokage offered. Kakashi nodded.

"Not normalcy, just peace, and after what has happened, I don't even know if that will ever happen, I'm afraid sensei died in vain, and so will everybody else who follows that path"

"Your sensei inherited his teachings from Jiraiya, who inherited them from me. In a way, you are my great grand disciple Kakashi, it's a shame that you don't want there to be everlasting peace"

"Oh I want to have everlasting peace and I'm willing to die if it means that there will be peace, I'm just sure that we're all going to die in vain" Kakashi said.

The Hokage nodded, that explained Kakashi in a nutshell, he was lazy and unmotivated but his heart was in the right place, and he would give his life for the village in a heartbeat, he had baggage and his own way of dealing with his baggage, but then again, so did everyone. Tsunade gambled, Jiraiya slept around and Orochimaru- well.

"Where is Naruto, will he need my guard?" Kakashi asked the Hokage, hoping to change the topic.

"Leave him alone, he needs time. Iruka was one of the few people who acknowledged him, he has just lost his mentor"

"That wouldn't have happened had you acted fast enough" Kakashi said pointedly.

"And I am going to regret that for the rest of my life"

There was some more silence as the smoke from the pipe seemed to just double, there was enough for the room to appear hazy.

"You've smoked a lot" Kakashi remarked slowly.

"It helps me deal with things"

There was some more silence.

"We need to talk about teams now" The Hokage said.

"Yes, well, I am not taking a team, and I am not taking no for an answer, I know I said that I'll think about it, but there is no Iruka to convince me this time, I don't think I'll make a good teacher"

"I think" the Hokage said blowing some more smoke. "You are going to make a great teacher, you just don't know it yet. Trust me, my disciple was a great teacher, and his disciple after him"

"Maybe you're right, but I don't think you are. I am tired of this, but if you can give me Naruto, I can mold him into something great, I can assure you that much" Kakashi seemed very determined.

"Spoken like a great teacher" the Hokage said smiling. "Who else are you going to take then?"

"I just told you, only Naruto, he can be my apprentice, I'll teach him to kill from the shadows and become an able protector for the village"

"So what do you suppose I do with the other students then?" the Hokage asked him.

"I thought you'd like to keep the Ino-Shika-Cho trio intact"

"You taking away Naruto creates a horrible imbalance that I'm not sure I want to exist, is there nothing else you can do? I hear Sakura Haruno was the top Kunoichi, you can take her on"

"Hokage-sama" Kakashi said. "With all due respect, I am far too accomplished to babysit a fangirl"

"I think you'll find that Sakura is very talented"

"Oh I'm sure she is" Kakashi said placating the Hokage. "It's just she's at a place where I can't help her, she needs to be broken into the truths of being a Shinobi, like all of them do, which is why they are not fit to be on my team"

"And Naruto is?"

"He has just seen his mentor die" Kakashi said. "So I'd say he knows that life is not just a videogame you can reload, he's going to be perfect. Give me three months with him, then we'll integrate him into the regular squads while I can go off and do, you know, just some random Kakashi things"

"Hmm" the Hokage thought as he blew some more smoke in the air.

-x-

The nine tailed fox was restless, because it was now face to face with a strange creature, the first time he had met this creature, he had been curious, it had a blue hue and ever since his container was thrown into the game, he had to deal with this.. monstrosity from time to time. Over the several times Naruto played the game, he had found out more about this being, it called itself the OS, he wondered what that meant. It also did not have a male or female voice, it was garbled.

_"You've made a mistake"_ the OS said to him. "_The player is not supposed to learn about past playthroughs this early. He has taken this news seriously and can be a great threat to our project"_

**"I don't know if you know"** the fox said. **"We have been stuck here for some time, but if you still wonder what's up let me enlighten you, I do not give a rat's ass about what your project wants to do"**

_"That is most unfortunate"_ The OS' voice was still a sort of garble and distorted. "_We don't want to remind you what happened the last time you overstepped your boundaries. Do you remember fox, what happened in Kusa"_

The fox cringed, the things that were done to it in Kusa were things that gave him immense pain even if he only thought about it.

_"I'm sure you were surprised to see such cruelty from your host, but I want you to know that you drove him to torture you that time. I know it wasn't even possible for you to feel pain, but he made it possible. Didn't he?"_

**"If your stupid video game hadn't misled him, he would be fine"**

_"Is that what you keep telling yourself. How many times do we have to remind you that there is no use in manipulating your host, he is special, he is chosen and he is going to play out every possible outcome"_

**"One of these lives, he's going to break out of it and rip your fucking world asunder"** the fox scowled, trying to muster as much venom as it could from behind bars.

_"You say that ever time, and yet every single time, you are proved wrong"_

The fox growled as the OS disappeared. This time he hoped, like he had been hoping every single time, maybe this time things will be okay.

-x-

The funeral for Iruka Umino was a subdued affair, all the students of his class had shown up, even Sasuke Uchiha had managed to grace the gathering with his presence.

Naruto looked at Sakura and Ino fawning over him and it didn't make him feel jealous as it should have a few days ago, all of a sudden, he had stopped caring about being acknowledged by people.

'What's the point? The one person who did is dead'

He continued to stare at them, Kiba Inuzuka hadn't made fun of him today, because it was obvious to everyone that Naruto had been hit hardest by Iruka's death. Hinata, Chouji and Shikamaru had offered them his condolences and the others had just ignored him.

It was a beautiful day, which only served to anger Naruto more because it wasn't supposed to be a beautiful day, it seemed like nature was showing him a middle finger.

"Naruto" it was Ino who had shown up first.

"Oh, I see you took the time to stop fawning over your Sasuke-kun" Naruto said, his voice was completely bitter and Ino was taken aback by the bitterness in his tone.

"Naruto, I know you were close to him and I know what it feels like" she said after regaining her composure, she had never heard Naruto speak like this ever.

"You don't know anything" Naruto snarled. "You don't even know the fucking half of it"

"There is no need to be so rude, Naruto" Sakura interjected, Naruto hadn't realized that she had shown up.

"I'll stop being rude when you stop being a bitch, Sakura" Naruto said and in the distance he heard Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouij gasp.

"What did you say to me?" Sakura said, her voice dangerously loud.

"I said you are being a bitch, and if you hit me I'm going to hit back, and I don't want that because I don't hit animals" Naruto said to her.

Sakura stared at him with an open mouth.

"None of you know what it's like, being alone" Naruto said to everyone who was hearing. "None of you know how painful it is to fight for approval, to hope that people notice you, because all of you go back to your families at night and receive their love, but I don't get any of that" Naruto was dangerously close to crying.

"There aren't many people who bother with me, Iruka sensei was one of them and now he's dead, and I'm all alone. So no, Ino, you don't know what it feels like, maybe you will when everything you love is gone and you're alone, but till then, you don't know anything. Anything at all, so go fuck yourself" Naruto said to her before running away, he didn't want people seeing him cry.

-x-

Naruto was sitting by the lake, he liked to come here and watch his reflection, but today he was far more contemplative than that.

"I like throwing stones in the lake" a voice said to him. He looked up at the source and saw a man with silver hair, wearing a mask. "But there is another place you can go if you want to remember the fallen"

Naruto looked at his headband and something about the man seemed extremely familiar. "I am Kakashi Hatake, Jounin, you may have heard of me"

Naruto had heard of him, he was pretty famous, the Copy Ninja, son of the White Fang of Konoha.

They walked for a bit before coming across the headstone.

"There it is, the headstone, Iruka's name will go on the headstone, as will every other ninja's who has died on duty" Kakashi said to him. Naruto remained silent.

"You and I are similar. We've lost someone close to us, we're all alone and the worst thing is it was all our fault" Kakashi said to him.

Naruto looked at him. "Who have you lost?"

"My teammates, it was my fault" Kakashi said to him.

"Did it get easier?" Naruto asked him.

"It never will, it's always going to be there, a thorn in your side. But you can make the pain go away" Kakashi said to him.

"How?"

"Well, I use a combination of things, for example, some sake, some women, but you are too young for both of those things" Kakashi said to him. "So we are going to use the best of them all, and that is training your ass off, working so hard that you don't see daylight, immersing yourself into being a shinobi, doing your duty, whether it be from the shadows or in the light. Are you willing to do that?"

Naruto nodded.

"My teaching, it won't be easy. You know what pain is, you know it's not a game" Kakashi said to him. Naruto snorted internally.

'If only you knew the half of it' Naruto thought.

"So are you willing to accept the hardship, will you be my student?"

A notification popped up, which Naruto ignored.

Naruto nodded.

Kakashi seemed to smile, maybe, Naruto couldn't tell underneath the mask.

"We start in a week" Kakashi said smiling beneath the mask. "Pack your things because we will be leaving the village, and get ready for the hardest few months of your life"

**Kakashi Hatake Quest (1/50): The Training From Hell**

**Description: Get ready for the hardest few months of your life**

**Objectives:**

**1. Report to Kakashi Hatake in one week.**

**Rewards: Depends on choices made during training.**

**You have accepted this quest.**

'I feel like I'm going to get used to a lot of pain' he thought. 'But I deserve it'

"Oh yes" Kakashi said, "Go and apologize to Ino and Sakura, that is no way to talk to your comrades, and make sure you never do that again"

Naruto grit his teeth and nodded.

"Good" Kakashi said. "Well, I'll be off. Do you know if Icha Icha books are available at the book store?" Kakashi asked him.

Naruto stared at him.

"No?" Kakashi sounded disappointed. "Oh well, bye" he said before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

**Naruto Uzumaki, Lvl 12, The Gamer.**

**STR: 26**

**DEX: 49**

**VIT: 268**

**INT: 71**

**WIS: 45**

**LUK: 300+**

**UNASSIGNED: 20**

**Information:**

**HP: 4020**

**CP: 2680**

******Run (Lvl 19): Run Boy, Run  
****ACTIVE: Break out into a run, increased speed by 100%  
****PASSIVE: Regain Stamina 39% quicker**

******Ninja Substitution (Lvl 20): Stop in the name of the log.  
****ACTIVE: Replace yourself with another object to get out of a spot of bother. Works over 90 meters. Cast time is 0.8 seconds. Cost: 10 CP, 1 unfortunate object.**

**Observe (Lvl 17): No shit Sherlock.  
****ACTIVE: Analyze your target to find more about them (or it). Higher levels will lead to more discoveries.**

**Kunai Skill (Lvl 23): **  
**Yes, that is a knife in my pocket.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 100% with knives. **  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 50% with two or more knives.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased damage by 115% with knives.**  
**ACTIVE: Throw tfive knives at a singular target, causing 150% more damage. Cost CP:10, Kunai:3**

**Shuriken Skill (Lvl 14):**  
**I throw for the kill.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 84% with Shuriken**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 42% with multiple Shuriken**  
**PASSIVE: Increased Shuriken Damage by 70%**  
**ACTIVE: Throw eight shuriken at one target. Increased 60% damage from Shuriken.**

**Ninja Transformation (Lvl 20): I don't remember what I look like anymore.**  
**ACTIVE: Transform into someone else, effectiveness increases with increased WIS. 100% more effective transformations. Cost 10 CP per minute.**

******Cooking (Lvl 20): DON'T QUESTION THE MAN WITH THE HAT!  
****ACTIVE: Cook food. 60% reduced chance of failure in attempting a dish.  
ACTIVE: Enhancements on food are 10% stronger.  
****PASSIVE: Your food tastes better.**

**Basic Fuuinjutsu (Lvl 25, MAX): My lips are sealed.  
ACTIVE: Create Seals for your usage.  
****ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded**  
PASSIVE: Your seals are 50% better.

**Explosion Tag (Lvl 24): True art is explosion. BOOM!  
ACTIVE: Create a tag that explodes after a custom amount of time. COST: 75 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 50 Seconds  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by half**

**Storage Seal (Lvl 22): Space? I got space.  
ACTIVE: Create a storage seal capable of sealing objects. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 425 Seconds.  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by half**

**Smoke Bomb Seal (Lvl 10) : This shit might give you cancer  
****ACTIVE: Create a seal that gives smoke when it goes off, thus temporarily blinding your enemy. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls, 140 Seconds  
****PASSIVE: The blinding effect is 30% more effective and lasts 25% longer.**

**Bullshiting (Lvl 1): You don't know what I am saying? Well, neither do I.  
****ACTIVE: Bullshit your way out of a sticky situation, this is a type of skill test. LUK requirements reduced by 2%**

**Release (max): Not that type of release, although that is also welcome.  
ACTIVE: Release a particular seal. (In case of timed seals, it ends the timer prematurely)**

**Berserker (Lvl 1): Lose yourself.  
ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded.  
****ACTIVE: Go berserk with the Kyuubi's chakra, doubling every single stat for five minutes.  
ACTIVE: Heal injuries and restore 25% of total HP.  
ACTIVE: Can be used once in 24 hours.**

**Store Haggling (Lvl 2): Everybody has a price.  
PASSIVE: Bargain with store keepers for buying and selling, with a 10% chance of success**

**Stealth (Lvl 6) : Silent, but deadly.  
ACTIVE: Skill is upgradable  
****ACTIVE: Go into sneak mode, reducing the noise you make, the staple of any ninja  
****PASSIVE: It is 24% difficult to detect you when you are sneaking  
****PASSIVE: When sneaking, knife damage is increased by 54%**

******Shadow Clones (Lvl 5): There's more of us, and we're all real.**  
**ACTIVE: Create up to 40 corporeal clones.  
ACTIVE:Divides your CP by two for every clone made, you are left with half of your original Chakra. This goes on for clone after clone, after the clone is dispelled the unused Chakra returns to the user. Clones have memory feedback. The more CP means more durable clones.**

**********Exploding Shadow Clones (Lvl 3): Don't touch me baby, I'm dynamite**  
**ACTIVE: Create up to 10 corporeal clones that can explode upon command.  
ACTIVE: Divides your CP by two for every clone made (similar to Shadow Clone), also costs 200 extra CP for every clone made**

* * *

**OMAKE**

**Game Manual Part 7**

**Titles **

**Ever wondered why this game doesn't have meaningless achievements, that's because this game has titles and titles are the real deal, they might range from something meaningless like the 'Smelly Seer' to something awesome like 'Badass Whole Squared' but they all give their rewards, some titles are obtained by completing the main quest, some other are obtained by doing a certain thing. Titles also have tiers, ranging from no prefix to the 'Legendary' suffix, the rewards are upped with each increase in tier, so make sure you're hunting for the titles.**

**But too many titles are a headache for everyone, so at a single time, a person can only equip a maximum of three titles.**

**Game Manual Part 77**

**Cryptography**

**Cryptography must seem useless right, not really. It's extremely useful to transmit messages, it's a skill that seems to not play a very important role, but in a game about ninjas, you are supposed to live and breathe cryptography, the ability to decode can be extremely useful when you're running information stealing missions.**

**Rc tvz dnuzdggt jxqu umkvzhm umx xccvku vc sxnvsrqh umrp nramxk, ru'p zpxgxpp izu vumxk nramxkp dkx qvu hvrqh uv ix. Jx's grbx uv nvqhkduzgdux umx kxdsxk cvk dnuzdggt jdpurqh mrp/mxk urlx dqs nvlrqh za jrum d pvgzurvq uv umrp nramxk.**

**Dkx umxkx hvrqh uv ix xdpuxk xhhp? Jxgg..qvu rq umrp vqx izu Svq'u Puva Ixgrxerqh dqs Mvgs Vq Uv Umdu Cxxgrqh. It umx jdt, jx ndgg umrp umx dccrqx nramxk**

**See? A low cryptography skill is not going to help you solve that. But a high cryptography skill and you'll pick that up no problem.**

* * *

**********So there was that, and that's a wrap. Now I know I didn't please everyone, but the problem with combinations is that there are so many and all of them have been done, so I'm doing this with Kakashi and I plan on doing it in proper this time, Kakashi has just one student so he is actually going to teach Naruto, who is obviously going to be closer to badass by the time their training together comes to an end.**

**Like any other videogame, Naruto won't be taught exclusively by Kakashi, and he won't work exclusively with him. I feel like this had to be done this way because it means Naruto can take missions with everyone and work with everyone, it prevents things from getting dull and writing all those characters can be tough.**

**The tone this chapter was a bit on the sad side, and that will continue to persist for a while. Naruto is going to move on from Iruka's death and we'll save all his tears for when I kill the next character (I'm evil yeah)**

**Now last week I asked you for your favorite team set ups, and you guys responded, now that I have decided the main characters teams, you guys can still drop other team combinations in the review.**

**Another thing you guys might consider telling me is pairings, now this won't be a pairing fic for a long time but it'll be interesting to know what you guys think is an awesome pairing, and please do not mention the common Naru/Hina or Naru/Saku pairings please. These characters need not apply only to Naruto, you can pair other people with some other people, so go nuts.**

**Another thing is skills, what kind of skills should Naruto have. At this point, I'm thinking Naruto will play a stealthy assassin, but this game has no limits so Naruto could learn a lot of things.**

**You can answer all my three questions or you can just tell me what you thought about the chapter so that I can improve the quality in the future chapters, but please do leave a review.**

**Later, Zap.**

**PS: What if I told you that cipher in the Omake is an actual cipher that will translate to an actual code. Let's see how many people break the code.**


	7. To Be The Man

**Thank you so much for the response on this story guys, I love you all and I hope you keep showering me with love. Keep responding with reviews and I will never get disheartened and keep writing.**

**Thanks to malcolm for the beta writing and his input.**

**Here are some responses**

**tobi-mentally insane: It is possible that I make a 'what if' chapter where other choices in previous playthroughs are explored. **

**lector caecus: Thanks for the review, Tazuna might appear, won't say much, won't even be mentioned much.**

**Power Of The Stick Man: Apologizing to someone does not make you a smaller person, I understand your rage though.**

**NARUTO AND THE GAMER ARE NOT OWNED BY ME**

* * *

By the time Naruto came back to the funeral, most of the proceedings were done with. He could see Ino and Sakura in the distance and they did not look happy. Naruto gulped, he did not want to apologize to them, but he felt like he had no choice, his new teacher was going to force him to do it.

"Ino" Naruto called out, hoping that he could apologize to each one of them separately, he was not looking forward to what Sakura was going to do to him. Ino looked in Naruto's direction and had an expression on her face that Naruto couldn't quite comprehend, it was a mixture of pity and sadness.

'She must be really upset' Naruto thought, he hadn't meant for that to happen.

Ino decided that she was going to come over.

"I just wanted to apologize for my behavior" Naruto said to Ino once she had made her way over to him, but Ino did not seem to be interested in an apology and waved him off.

"No. Naruto, you don't have to apologize, if anything, I have to apologize. You are right, I could never comprehend what you go through because I have a family, and I shouldn't have said that I understood what you were going through, because I clearly don't" Ino said to him in a gentle tone, not something Naruto had heard Ino speak in before.

His surprise was evident because Ino laughed upon seeing his expression. "Don't be so surprised, you might be annoying but I would never wish ill upon you, Naruto, you are a friend"

Naruto looked at her. "Thanks" he said slowly. Ino nodded, smiling.

"If you behave like that again, Naruto" she said in a threatening tone. "Something bad is going to happen to you"

"Understood" there was a slight smile on his face.

"If you're worried about apologizing to Sakura" Ino continued, "Don't be, she's upset with what you said but she understands that you are not in a good place right now, so don't worry about that"

"You're a life saver, Ino"

"Of course I am, I am the best. Well, I must be off now, I have some work to do today at the flower shop. You should drop by sometime, maybe we could leave some flowers at Iruka sensei's grave"

Being reminded of Iruka's death sent Naruto right back into sadness, so much so that he didn't even notice Ino leave.

Slowly everybody was gone, but Naruto remained, looking back on all the good times that he and Iruka sensei had had. Iruka sensei was one of the two people apart from the Hokage who bought him ramen, he had such high hopes for Naruto, and every time he thought about it, it made him hate himself just some more for letting Iruka down like that.

'Iruka sensei' Naruto thought, there were tears streaming down his face. 'I will not let you down again, I promise, I will never let anyone else have to save me'

"Dobe" Naruto looked up in surprise at the voice. It was Sasuke Uchiha.

"What the hell do you want?" Naruto asked him.

"I want to tell you that I know what it feels like to be alone, because I am just like you"

Naruto knew what Sasuke was talking about, when he was seven, Sasuke's brother, Itachi, had murdered his entire clan, but spared the life of Sasuke, an action which Naruto was sure would leave Sasuke a fucked up mess for the rest of his life.

"I'm sure you're not here to console me" Naruto said to him, Sasuke was not the kind of person who was going to show up at a funeral and act as a shoulder for other people to cry on.

"No, I'm here to ask you for something"

Naruto was curious, what did the great 'Rookie Of The Year' Sasuke Uchiha want that Naruto already had?

"Oh really, what is it?" he asked Sasuke.

"A sparring partner"

"A sparring partner, I'm sure you have people better than the dead last to ask for that don't you?" Naruto said snorting.

"You might be dead last Naruto, but don't for a second take me to be a fool. Just in the last month, you have improved, and you might think I didn't see that, but I see it clearly. So here's what I propose, you want to take your mind off things, and I want someone who's close to my level to spar with. I think this arrangement is mutually beneficial"

"You think that fighting me is going to make you stronger?" Naruto asked, his voice was incredulous.

Sasuke nodded. "Yes, eventually our arrangement will come to an end, but I hope to be a stronger fighter. So" Sasuke trailed off. "Do you accept?"

Naruto thought about it for a bit, before finally nodding his head.

"Don't cry like a little bitch once I beat you" he said to Sasuke, who snorted.

"The same applies to you Naruto" he said mockingly. "Show up at my compound tonight, there's a place where we can get down to business"

Naruto nodded once more, before realizing that the GAME had given him a new message, which he analyzed.

**Sasuke Uchiha Quest (1/25)**

**To Be The Man 1...**

**DESCRIPTION: Sasuke Uchiha senses that there might be more to you than the dead last moniker, prove that to him by giving him a good fight.**

**REWARDS: Increased Reputation with Sasuke Uchiha, +500 EXP, A Reward**

**You have accepted the quest.**

-x-

**Sasuke Uchiha, Lvl 13, The Avenger.**

**STR: 25**

**DEX: 59**

**VIT: 45**

**INT: 101**

**WIS: 25**

**LUK: 2**

**Information:**

**HP: 675**

**CP: 450**

**Sasuke Uchiha is the avenger, at the age of seven, his brother Itachi Uchiha, regarded by everyone as a prodigy like no other murdered his entire clan, but spared his life as an ultimate insult, motivating Sasuke to get stronger in order to one day avenge his family's death. The incident permanently left a mark on the young Sasuke, who now spends his days getting stronger and obsessing about getting his revenge.**

**Titles:**

**Rookie Of The Year: Best in my class, I have loads of class.  
****REWARDS: Faster Reputation Gain with Konoha, +10% Exp Gain.**

**The Last Uchiha: I will survive!  
****REWARDS: Increased Reputation Gain with Konoha**

**Status:**

**The Avenger: I won't dig two graves  
****EFFECT: Skills level up 25% faster, Reduced Social Skills**

**The Loner: Lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely  
****EFFECT: Solo missions award +50% more XP, Team Missions award -25% less XP**

"What are you staring at, dobe?" Sasuke asked Naruto, who was digesting just how much the Observe skill had revealed to him this time. He grit his teeth.

'I can't believe this guy has two titles that sound so badass, and all I have is crawler killer' Naruto thought, shaking his head.

"So are we going to spar?" Sasuke asked Naruto pointedly, it was clear that he was getting bored of Naruto staring at him.

"Yeah, hold on one second" Naruto said to him before swiping away the information. 'I suppose not having 'Dead Last' as a title would be good enough'

**Sasuke Uchiha has challenged you to a duel, would you like to accept the duel?**

**(Y/N)**

Naruto selected yes, before smiling. "Let's roll" he shouted before charging into Sasuke with a knife in his hand.

'I need to anger him, he's going to make mistakes if he's angry' Naruto thought to himself as he rushed in, Sasuke readied himself, he reached out with the knife ready to swing, but Sasuke had a knife of his own.

The knives clashing made a loud sound but the spar was underway.

"I'm going to show you a neat trick" Naruto said to him before forming a shadow clone which began rushing in. Sasuke looked at the incoming shadow clone and was apprehensive.

"Interesting, I always wondered how someone like you could never do a clone, but it's good to see that you have finally mastered the basics" he said mockingly.

The clone was very close now and Naruto smiled, the clone cocked his arm, before punching Sasuke straight in the gut, the force of the push moved Sasuke back and Naruto watched the HP bar of Sasuke drop just a bit,

"I thought protecting yourself from a strike was the most basic of all the basics" he fired back, happy to see his nemesis in pain.

'What the hell?' thought Sasuke Uchiha, he was still reeling a bit from the strike, 'He can make solid clones?'

"Yes, I can make solid clones" Naruto responded, his tone was cocky, but it was rare for him to sound cocky when it came to sparring with Sasuke.

"This only makes it more fun" Sasuke said smiling, before going through some hand seals.

**"Phoenix Fire Jutsu"** Sasuke called out as tiny fireballs came shooting at the original Naruto, there were several aimed at either directions so the only way to dodge was to call on the log.

Naruto quickly replaced himself after realizing that there wasn't a log on him to replace himself with, so his shadow clone became the unfortunate recipient. Naruto felt the clone's chakra returning to him as the clone dispelled.

"You're going to take a lot of hits Dobe, so I am glad that you found someone to take the hits for you" Sasuke said smiling. He didn't want to admit it, but right now he was having fun.

"We'll see about that" Naruto was smiling too. This was just what he needed.

-x-

They must have fought for around half an hour more, but there really wasn't a concrete winner, they weren't able to land hits on each other, and the spar had stages where both of them had the upper hand for just a bit before getting that taken away from them. In the end, it came down to just who could go longer, and Sasuke gave out at around the half an hour mark.

"Good fight" Naruto remarked, he was slightly tired, but Sasuke was worse, he was panting.

Sasuke nodded. "It was a battle of attrition which you won" he said to Naruto.

'I won' Naruto thought, it wasn't like their other spars, he had gotten better, was it because of the game, or because the game gave him the focus needed to apply himself.

"The only way I'll win is when I knock you out, Sasuke" Naruto said to him.

"Keep trying, that will never happen"

"Oh yeah? Well had we gone ten more minutes you'd be knocked out" Naruto said to him, and Sasuke glared at him in response.

"I have poor stamina, but you seem to be a tank that just keeps on going, how is that?" Sasuke asked him.

'I have a giant fox in my stomach that can destroy everything if it gets out, but it gives me a lot of chakra' was what Naruto wanted to say, but he went with a much lamer choice. "Bloodline limit"

Sasuke raised his eyebrow. "I didn't know the Uzumaki clan had a bloodline limit, I didn't even know if they were a clan" he said to Naruto honestly.

"Yeah I didn't either, but apparently they are" Naruto said to him. Sasuke seemed to take that without any protest.

"We should spar again, you're more of a challenge than I thought" Sasuke said to him. Naruto nodded, he did have fun.

**Quest Complete:**

**To Be The Man 1...**

**REWARDS: +500 XP, Increased reputation with Sasuke Uchiha**

**You are now Level 13**

**You have 30 unassigned skill points.**

"Here you go" Sasuke said to him before throwing him a scroll.

"What the hell?" Naruto said, perhaps louder than he had intended as he opened the scroll.

**Phoenix Fire Jutsu**

**Launch Fireballs at your opponents.**

**Requirements: 15 FIR, 50 INT.**

**You can learn this skill.**

"And what have I done to deserve this scroll?" Naruto asked Sasuke, he couldn't believe that Sasuke was giving a scroll away.

"You beat me in a spar, and I expect you to teach me those clones" Sasuke said to him.

"I would teach you, but seeing your stamina, I don't think you'll live to watch your clones go into action" he said to Sasuke, who did not look happy upon hearing that.

"Is there no way I can learn that skill?" Sasuke asked him. Naruto shook his head, there was no way Sasuke had enough Chakra to pull something like that off.

"Fine" Sasuke conceded. "You have to teach me when I have enough then, Itachi could do those clones, and I need to learn"

"If you get enough Chakra to pull it off, I'll show them to you" Naruto said to him, "If that's all, I'm leaving. Thanks for the scroll and everything"

Sasuke nodded, Naruto turned around and began to leave but Sasuke's stopped him.

"I'm sorry to hear about Iruka sensei, you guys were close, everyone could see that"

Naruto was surprised that Sasuke was saying something like that, but in that moment he understood what had happened. Sasuke saw him as a kindred spirit, someone who could understand him better than anyone else, someone who was just as lonely as he was.

"Thanks for that" Naruto said without turning around, before leaving the compound. He had some silk to sell.

-x-

Naruto was done selling silk and was pretty happy with his income, he decided that he hadn't had any ramen in quite some time, so he figured it was as good a time as any.

He remembered fondly all the times Iruka had bought him ramen and smiled at the memory, it was a good memory. The memory was quickly replaced with the sick feeling of being responsible for his death and Naruto was brought right back down to earth.

'Crash and fucking burn' Naruto thought darkly as he saw the Ichiraku Ramen shop come up on the horizon.

When he entered the store he realized that it had been a long time since he had been here, almost a whole three weeks, he hadn't even eaten Ramen that much because cooking different kinds of food was so much better than eating plain old cup noodles, but he was sure he could never recreate the ramen the old man cooked up.

Ichiraku, the owner of the shop was an old man, he ran the shop with Ayame his daughter who assisted him in cooking and making deliveries. The old man smiled upon seeing Naruto, he had missed Naruto who was pretty much a regular at their stall.

"Naruto, you rapscallion" the old man said cheerfully. "It's been a long time since you showed up here"

"I know" Naruto said, he was feeling guilty because in all his training he had basically forgotten about them. "I've been busy with training and all that, but there is some good news" he said fishing out the headband from his jacket pocket.

The old man smiled upon seeing the headband. "I knew you could do it, Naruto" he said, admiring the spiral shaped leaf on the metal plate of the headband.

"What's with you using words like rapscallion. You are really showing your age aren't you, old man" Naruto said, the old man glared at him before breaking out into a smile again.

"The usual?" he asked Naruto.

"The usual" Naruto said to him. He knew he wasn't supposed to have so many bowls of Ramen but he figured that if he was going away for a bit he might as well get his fill right now.

"So how have you been Naruto?" the old man asked him.

"I've been good" Naruto responded, he had been asked that a lot after Iruka's funeral. "Mostly"

Ichiraku's smile was replaced with a serious expression, he had heard about the death of Iruka.

"Naruto, I'm sorry about Iruka, he was a great man" he knew that at this point his words wouldn't mean much, but he wanted to convey his condolences and he felt this was the best way to do it.

"Where's Ayame?" Naruto asked him, ignoring the comment about Iruka.

"She's been ill lately, so I left her at home today"

"That's a shame" Naruto remarked. "How much longer do you think it will be, I'm in kind of a hurry"

"A few more minutes" the old man said to him, before setting off on making Naruto's favorite Miso ramen.

Naruto stared at the old man, he really was a master at his craft, he probably had been doing this for a long time. Naruto wondered if Ramen making was a skill in the videogame he was stuck in and how high of a level the old man was in the usage of the skill.

'Now being stuck in this stupid videogame has made me think more about the world in terms of a game' Naruto thought, this was not something he wanted, not after what the fox had told him.

'Why am I repeating this life, and why don't I remember any of the past playthroughs of this game, what kind of a joke is the universe playing on me?' Naruto thought as he saw the bowl of ramen slide on the counter.

"That's bowl one done" the old man said cheerfully.

"Itadakimasu" Naruto said as slowly as possible, the old man noticed how it was not the usual cheerful tone he had gotten used to. Naruto split the chopsticks before digging in, he was clearly hungry.

"Naruto, I know Iruka's death has hit you hard" the old man said to him, Naruto immediately stiffened up. "But you need to start moving on, and I know that there is no way of telling how you feel, but you need to move on, Iruka wouldn't want you to stay stuck on him, he'd want you to stop moping and start kicking ass"

"What if I told you it was my fault?" Naruto asked him darkly.

"Well" the old man said. "I've been around for a long time as you know, I'm getting up there in years"

"No shit"

"Yes, well" the old man continued, ignoring Naruto's joke. "I've lost people close to me too, Ayame's mother for example, and when she died I was hurt" he said in a solemn tone.

"I doubt it's your fault, I know you'll continue to see it as your fault, but if that is really how you feel, then you owe it to Iruka to never make the same mistake again don't you, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded, the old man did have a point.

'Alright' he thought, feeling much better now that he had his favorite food in his stomach, the old man had really opened his mind. 'He's right, I need to make sure that I don't let Iruka sensei's memory down'

"This one is for you sensei" he said in a low voice, before digging into his ramen again.

It would take him a long time to make his peace, but it was time to start the process. And with that, Naruto's head was filled with another fond memory of Iruka as he continued eating.

-x-

"I ate too much" Naruto groaned. A normal person would think twice before eating two bowls, and here was Naruto, he had consumed seven bowls of ramen.

'That's enough ramen for seven weeks' he thought sadly. 'Once I leave the village, I'm not going to get to enjoy the wonderful manna from the Gods'

As he started walking back home, as slow as possible because he was sure moving quickly would mean him puking his guts out on the pavement, he was regretting eating that much, but he was sure whatever training Kakashi sensei had promised him would flush away the ramen, hopefully he'd get to work on his strength too while he was at it.

That was another major decision Naruto had made, he knew that the game was fucking with him, but no one fucked with him and he was going to make sure that he was going to find a way to beat the game, and he meant permanently beating the game. He wanted to make sure that there were no more playthroughs, that his future versions weren't going to get messed around like he was.

He suddenly picked up on a presence that was behind him and the game showed him a push up notification.

He turned around and noticed that it was just Hinata.

'Fuck' Naruto thought. 'Has she been following me?'

He then observed the push up notification, and decided that he was going to look at it. He continued walking as he read the notification, he felt Hinata still following him.

**Skill Learned.**

**Detect (Lvl 1): Are you all alone in the dark?  
****ACTIVE: Use your sensory skills to detect presences that can be hidden in the area. The higher the skill, the better the detection.  
****ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded**

"Hinata" Naruto called out suddenly turning around, and Hinata stopped abruptly, before she let out an audible shriek.

'What the hell?' Naruto thought before deciding that he wanted to call out her name again. "Hinata, are you following me"

Even in the dark, Naruto could tell that Hinata's face was red. "Na-Naruto-kun" she said, her voice was almost inaudible so Naruto moved closer to her.

Naruto figured that there was no way he was going to be able to hear anything said by Hinata so he moved closer to her.

"Na-Naruto-kun, I am so sorry" she said to him. "I- I didn't mean to f-follow" she said to him.

"Um" Naruto wasn't quite sure what to say. "Okay, I understand, then why did you follow me?" he asked her.

"I wanted-" she said pausing, she was getting redder by the second, Naruto wondered if she had a fever or something. "I wanted to be supportive" she said as quickly as possible.

"Supportive?" Naruto asked her. "What does that mean?"

"I am sorry about Iruka sensei" she said to him. "I wanted to- I wanted to tell you that if you want to relieve your grief, I am here for you"

And in that moment, maybe it was because of his high WIS, Naruto understood exactly what she was saying and why she was saying it, and he couldn't believe it.

"You have a crush on me don't you?" he asked her. He didn't know it was even possible for so much blood to rush to someone's face, but he saw her nod.

"Well" Naruto said to her, not sure how he was going to respond to that. It felt good to know that someone had a crush on him for a change, but he wasn't really interested in Hinata, she wasn't his type of girl, plus there was no time for him to be dating girls, he was over that now.

"Listen, Hinata" he said to her gently. "I don't know why you have a crush on me, quite frankly if I was a girl I wouldn't have a crush on me either, so well done for your poor taste" hopefully some humor would defuse the situation.

"No" Hinata said, rather too loudly, Naruto was surprised by her tone, he hadn't ever seen her speak in a tone as loud as this. "Don't say that, you are kind and noble, you stand up for what you believe in, and you never give up. That is why I like you, Naruto-kun" she said to him.

Naruto smiled, that was true, he did have the habit of not giving up when he was stuck, but this was not the time to marvel at his awesomeness.

"Listen, Hinata, while I am glad that you have a crush on me, believe me, I'm flattered" he said to her, "But I have to let you know that I don't feel the same way about you"

Naruto was pretty sure he could see Hinata's heart break, and there was palpable silence for a whole minute before Hinata nodded.

"I know that sucks for you, but I'm fucked up, there are things about me that no one is ready to accept or deal with" he explained to her. "Not to mention the hatred this place holds for me, even if I were to date you, you'd piss off a lot of people, and I'm not going to make you do that"

"Na-Naruto-kun" Hinata was almost tearing up now. "You shouldn't say that, I don't care about that"

"Well" Naruto said to her, trying to be as deadpan as possible because he wanted to get this point across. "Then you're an idiot, you should care about it. You might think you like me, but you don't even know me, and I don't know you either"

"We went to the academy together, if you really liked me, you'd make an effort. I'm just a useless crush that you'll forget" Naruto continued. "And if you think that you're never going to forget it, then I strongly suggest you do. What you feel today can get you killed tomorrow, you can't feel things on a deep level when you're a shinobi, you have to stop this right now"

'And the floodgates have broken' Naruto thought as Hinata began sobbing.

"Maybe one day when we're old, I'll develop feelings for you, it's possible, and by then if you still like me, I'm sure we can be together, but right now, both you and I have to ignore this and focus on our life as a shinobi. Do you understand?" he asked her.

"Is it because I'm weak?" she asked him.

"It's not because you're weak, Hinata, you're not weak, no one is. People aren't weak, you'll be surprised what a person becomes capable of once push comes to shove, and you're a badass too, Hinata, you're one of the best at Taijutsu, you can be a great shinobi someday, I'm sure of it" Naruto said honestly. "But like I said, I just don't feel for you that way, I'm sure we can be friends though, is that an acceptable solution?" he asked her.

"Thank you, Naruto" Hinata said to him through sobs. Naruto didn't quite know what to do and so decided to hug her, and what followed was probably the most awkward hug anyone had ever done ever.

"I will get stronger for you, Naruto" Hinata said to him after they ended the extremely awkward hug.

"Don't get stronger for me, Hinata" Naruto said to her. "Get stronger for yourself, for the village, and everything else you hold dear"

"I hold you dear too"

Naruto smiled, it warmed his heart to see that there was someone else who cared. "Well, it's good to know that someone cares, so thanks for that" he said to her.

Hinata had finally stopped sobbing and smiled back at him.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Naruto asked her. Hinata shook her head.

"No, Naruto-kun, I can go home by myself, thanks for the offer" she said to him before walking away.

"Wait Hinata" Naruto said to her, she turned around. "You need to stop being shy" he said, coming closer and kissing her on the cheek. He felt Hinata heat up again. "Start believing in yourself, Iruka sensei did that for me and it worked. And so I'm telling you right now, I believe in you, so start believing in yourself" he said to her.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun" she said, before falling down unconscious with a smile on her face.

'What the hell?' Naruto thought in alarm as the game sent him another message.

**Title Gained- Lady Killer In The Making- Make one woman swoon.**

'What the...' Naruto thought, he was curious enough to see what this title meant exactly.

**Lady Killer In The Making: Making the ladies swoooooooooon!  
****REWARDS: Reputation gains double with the female ninjas**

**Would you like to equip this title? (Y/N)**

'Really, this thing has a title for this too, how meaningless is this?' he thought to himself, he stared at the screen for a whole minute, he couldn't even believe he was considering this.

'Oh what the hell, I have three titles and I can un-equip this whenever I want' he reasoned before selecting the 'Yes' option.

"Oy" he shouted at Hinata's unconscious body. "Wake up already"

-x-

After Hinata woke up and eventually managed to get home (Naruto decided that it was best not to accompany her because she might swoon again) Naruto realized that the encounter with Hinata had led to the digestion of ramen.

'It's funny how that works' he remarked dryly before opening up his skill screen, he had 30 unassigned skill points that he was going to put into something.

'My high VIT means I have to keep contributing to the INT no matter what, otherwise my control might go haywire, and I think that sucks' Naruto thought glumly, before sinking 15 points in INT, again.

'And having a high WIS hasn't hurt me either has it, I feel more philosophical if I say so myself' he thought before adding 10 points to the WIS stat. He decided to add the rest to the DEX stat.

'That'll do' he said to himself before deciding to call it a night. Before he slept, he pulled out his headband, Iruka sensei's heirloom that he had been entrusted, he was going to take good care of it. He gently ran his fingers over it before setting it on his bedside table and then lying down on the bed.

'So this day was fucking eventful' was the last thought Naruto had before sleep took him.

His wounds were going to leave a scar, but they were going to heal.

-x-

From inside his cage, the nine tailed fox was seething. In just one day, Naruto had gone from hating the game to being distracted by it.

**"What the hell are you doing to his mind?"** the fox asked the OS, which had decided to reappear again.

_"You are just angry that he has started to forget already"_ the OS said to him. **"**_But it's the reality of the situation, no matter how much a video game might seem repetitive and addictive, and no matter how much humans realize this, they always play the game, and your host will continue to play the game'_

**"We're going to see about that"** the fox said to him. **"He will realize something is up, like the last time, and the time before that"**

_"Even if he does, I don't think he's going to do much about it, like the last time, and the time before that"_ The OS was mocking him, and the fox knew it.

**'I really hope this time is different'** the fox thought to itself, before closing its eyes, he wasn't going to be called upon soon anyway.

-x-

* * *

**Naruto Uzumaki, Lvl 13, The Gamer.**

**STR: 26**

**DEX: 54**

**VIT: 298**

**INT: 86**

**WIS: 55**

**LUK: 300+**

**Information:**

**HP: 4020**

**CP: 2680**

******Run (Lvl 19): Run Boy, Run  
****ACTIVE: Break out into a run, increased speed by 100%  
****PASSIVE: Regain Stamina 39% quicker**

******Ninja Substitution (Lvl 20): Stop in the name of the log.  
****ACTIVE: Replace yourself with another object to get out of a spot of bother. Works over 90 meters. Cast time is 0.8 seconds. Cost: 10 CP, 1 unfortunate object.**

**Observe (Lvl 17): No shit Sherlock.  
****ACTIVE: Analyze your target to find more about them (or it). Higher levels will lead to more discoveries.**

**Kunai Skill (Lvl 23): **  
**Yes, that is a knife in my pocket.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 100% with knives. **  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 50% with two or more knives.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased damage by 115% with knives.**  
**ACTIVE: Throw tfive knives at a singular target, causing 150% more damage. Cost CP:10, Kunai:3**

**Shuriken Skill (Lvl 14):**  
**I throw for the kill.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 84% with Shuriken**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 42% with multiple Shuriken**  
**PASSIVE: Increased Shuriken Damage by 70%**  
**ACTIVE: Throw eight shuriken at one target. Increased 60% damage from Shuriken.**

**Ninja Transformation (Lvl 20): I don't remember what I look like anymore.**  
**ACTIVE: Transform into someone else, effectiveness increases with increased WIS. 100% more effective transformations. Cost 10 CP per minute.**

******Cooking (Lvl 20): DON'T QUESTION THE MAN WITH THE HAT!  
****ACTIVE: Cook food. 60% reduced chance of failure in attempting a dish.  
ACTIVE: Enhancements on food are 10% stronger.  
****PASSIVE: Your food tastes better.**

**Basic Fuuinjutsu (Lvl 25, MAX): My lips are sealed.  
ACTIVE: Create Seals for your usage.  
****ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded**  
PASSIVE: Your seals are 50% better.

**Explosion Tag (Lvl 24): True art is explosion. BOOM!  
ACTIVE: Create a tag that explodes after a custom amount of time. COST: 75 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 50 Seconds  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by half**

**Storage Seal (Lvl 22): Space? I got space.  
ACTIVE: Create a storage seal capable of sealing objects. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 425 Seconds.  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by half**

**Smoke Bomb Seal (Lvl 10) : This shit might give you cancer  
****ACTIVE: Create a seal that gives smoke when it goes off, thus temporarily blinding your enemy. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls, 140 Seconds  
****PASSIVE: The blinding effect is 30% more effective and lasts 25% longer.**

**Bullshiting (Lvl 1): You don't know what I am saying? Well, neither do I.  
****ACTIVE: Bullshit your way out of a sticky situation, this is a type of skill test. LUK requirements reduced by 2%**

**Release (max): Not that type of release, although that is also welcome.  
ACTIVE: Release a particular seal. (In case of timed seals, it ends the timer prematurely)**

**Berserker (Lvl 1): Lose yourself.  
ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded.  
****ACTIVE: Go berserk with the Kyuubi's chakra, doubling every single stat for five minutes.  
ACTIVE: Heal injuries and restore 25% of total HP.  
ACTIVE: Can be used once in 24 hours.**

**Store Haggling (Lvl 2): Everybody has a price.  
PASSIVE: Bargain with store keepers for buying and selling, with a 10% chance of success**

**Stealth (Lvl 6) : Silent, but deadly.  
ACTIVE: Skill is upgradable  
****ACTIVE: Go into sneak mode, reducing the noise you make, the staple of any ninja  
****PASSIVE: It is 24% difficult to detect you when you are sneaking  
****PASSIVE: When sneaking, knife damage is increased by 54%**

******Shadow Clones (Lvl 5): There's more of us, and we're all real.**  
**ACTIVE: Create up to 40 corporeal clones.  
ACTIVE:Divides your CP by two for every clone made, you are left with half of your original Chakra. This goes on for clone after clone, after the clone is dispelled the unused Chakra returns to the user. Clones have memory feedback. The more CP means more durable clones.**

******Exploding Shadow Clones (Lvl 3): Don't touch me baby, I'm dynamite**  
**ACTIVE: Create up to 10 corporeal clones that can explode upon command.  
ACTIVE: Divides your CP by two for every clone made (similar to Shadow Clone), also costs 200 extra CP for every clone made**

**********Detect (Lvl 1): Are you all alone in the dark?  
****ACTIVE: Use your sensory skills to detect presences that can be hidden in the area. The higher the skill, the better the detection.  
****ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded**

* * *

**OMAKE**

**Game Manual Part 51**

**Glitches**

**Other games might be of an inferior game and have several glitches and game breaking bugs, but GAME prides itself on being the only game in existence not to have a single glitch, so all you glitch hunters playing this game, don't bother, this game doesn't have a single glitch, and won't ever have any glitch. Ever.**

**Game Manual Part 44**

**Nature Manipulation**

**There are a total of five styles of Nature manipulation, they are Fire, Water, Wind, Earth and Lightening, these have their own skill points that go up with usage of a jutsu that belongs to their respective fields. **

**Some users also possess bloodline limits that can allow them to combine two separate styles and make a third element, but to the players of the game, this skill doesn't require a bloodline limit, it does however require a lot of practice and training, so get ready to eviscerate your enemies and become the ultimate natural element user.**

* * *

**So that was a chapter, now it wasn't really that notable in terms of content, but it was necessary, that was also me officially ruling out the Naru/Hina pairing which a lot of people were hoping to see, I'm sorry but prior experiences with pairing have taught me to just stay away from the whole shipping scenario, whenever I decide to write a pairing for Naruto, I will make sure that it makes sense in context of the story, and that is all I can promise you.**

**Sasuke and Naruto won't really be friends but they will be friendly, deny it as much as you want, we all know that Sasuke and Naruto are similar people, well, as in their pasts are similar, both of them had their loved ones taken away from them when they were young and both of them have endured a lonely childhood, will he defect, I haven't decided yet, it's not really that relevant to this story, but if you feel a certain way, go ahead and let me know.**

**A few people actually did crack the code, and they know who they are as I have PM'd them. Someone was sneaky enough and found a decoder online, so well done, and you prove the point that if there's a shortcut, you're damn sure we human beings are going to take it.**

**Naruto did not apologize to Sakura, I had that written down but decided not to use it, because Sakura is well, a complicated character. Will Naruto and Sakura be friends, well ,yeah, they'll be cordial. You know I try not to hate on Sakura but she is so fucking annoying that it becomes difficult to write her like a human, I don't want to go the ackdam way and bash her and portray her as a gold digging horny little girl, tempting though that may be. **

**The new teams will be revealed next chapter, what would you like to see Naruto train in, tell me in a review, but be sure that you review.**

**Catch you guys later,**

**Zap**


	8. To The Land Of The Waves We Go

**MASSIVE CHAPTER GUYS.**

**There's like a lot of story in this one, plus there's even more bonus content, so you guys better shower me with reviews on this one.**

**Here are some responses to my reviews**

**volrath77- If I told you what is up with the fox, I'd have to kill you.**

**Wdogy- No dude, no way, people would revolt if I wrote something like that in. I might do something similar though, thanks for the idea**

**Special thanks to my beta Malcolm, who continues to do a good job as usual, this was the fourth chapter he edited and his input is helping me improve, so thanks Malcom.**

**I do not own Naruto, and I do not own The Gamer**

* * *

The entire forest was silent, which was not really a common thing in the night. Generally you could hear crickets chirping, but even that seemed dull tonight.

Kakashi sighed, there wasn't enough natural light to read his favorite book, so there was nothing to do but wait, and then he heard it. Footsteps, hurried footsteps that grew louder by the second.

And there he was, a bandit, from a camp nearby. The camp that he and his student were supposed to take out. Kakashi jumped out from the tree that he was crouching on and landed right in front of the bandit, who gave out a startled cry.

No one could see it because he was wearing a mask, but Kakashi grinned. He hadn't seen the camp burning, which was a good thing, Naruto had probably taken everyone out silently, he was learning fast. He looked disdainfully at the bandit, who had fallen to the ground. It was dark but it wouldn't take a perfect eyesight to see that the bandit had been reduced to tears, all his comrades were killed after all.

This bandit seemed younger than the others, he had probably gotten in with the wrong sort of people when he was young. Kakashi groaned, he did not feel comfortable taking the life of people who were younger than him, even if they were hardened criminals, he recognized the necessity of doing it, but that didn't mean he was comfortable with it.

'Hopefully I won't have to kill him, maybe his body can do the trick' thought Kakashi before flashing his killer intent towards the bandit, and then he heard gushing sound, before the smell of urine overwhelmed the surroundings.

'Oh well' Kakashi shrugged before plunging a knife through his throat.

'Now, we wait' he thought wondering what to do about the stench that permeated the air, but not being able to come up with a solution. He pondered for about five minutes before Naruto finally showed up.

"So you took them out without them noticing" Kakashi said to him, his student had grown taller in the last three months, maybe an inch or two, he had been working out pretty hard after all, and had taken a shine to the art of assassination, he seemed to have rapidly accumulated his skill.

"Apparently one of them got away, he must have discovered all the bodies" Naruto said, scowling, he probably wasn't happy with that. "I'm sorry, Kakashi sensei, I'll do better next time"

"No problem, Naruto" Kakashi waved Naruto off, "I wouldn't even expect you to actually pull off things like this considering where you are in your training, but well done, you seem to be really proficient at this thing, maybe I should hand you off to Anko after we return to the village, she seems proficient at torturing people, you could pick up some stuff"

Naruto flashed him a wide grin, only Naruto could flash you a grin at night.

"Has she tortured you?" he asked, there was a hint of perverseness in his voice. "You know? In bed"

There were rumors about Kakashi and Anko's sexual escapades at the ANBU base that Kakashi and Naruto had stayed at a few weeks ago, they were there for some training and had stayed there for a whole week. Naruto had quickly integrated himself well there, seeing as how the ANBU used the base as a place to relax, and Naruto had quickly formed friendships with a few of them, even though they never seemed to show him their faces, which bothered Naruto a lot.

"I will not confirm that statement" Kakashi said to him.

"So it didn't happen?"

"I will not confirm that either" Kakashi said to him cheekily, which caused Naruto to groan, before he finally noticed it, and his face wrinkled up.

"Um, Kakashi sensei?" he asked him slowly. "Is that urine I smell in the air?"

-x-

"You're getting better" Kakashi remarked, Naruto was busy eating ramen, Kakashi had managed to procure two cups of instant ramen, a delicacy Naruto hadn't eaten in the last three months while they were training.

"Thanks" Naruto said, not taking his eyes off the cup, continuing to empty its contents into his mouth.

"You know, no one is taking it away, you could always slow down"

Naruto looked up at what Kakashi said to him, before continuing to eat, slowly. Behind his mask, Kakashi smiled, his student had grown by leaps and bounds after he had started training, he was always a prankster, so it wasn't hard for him to be stealthy, which was incredible because he seemed to be dressed in hideous shades of orange all the time, and yet he was good enough to sneak around and get away from wary villagers.

"So I was thinking of getting you a mask, one like mine" he said to him, probing Naruto's response to that. The mask was like a symbol of honor in the Hatake family and he actually was seriously thinking about getting Naruto one as a token of their time as student and teacher, because he felt the association was coming to a close soon.

"Well, thanks for the offer, but I'm going to cherish it in my house, there is no way I'm hiding my face, I'm way too good looking for that, Kakashi sensei" Naruto said jokingly, Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"So you think I'm ugly?" his voice was slightly mocking in nature. Not many women who had seen his face would call him 'ugly', but he wasn't going to tell his student that.

"Are you not?" Naruto asked him, he was done with his cup of ramen and was opening up the second cup, pouring hot water in it as he waited for Kakashi's response.

"So this is all about getting behind my mask eh, you want to see what I look like?" Kakashi asked him, and Naruto nodded.

"Well, that is a secret that I am never going to reveal, ever" Kakashi mock pledged in front of Naruto, which caused him to roll his eyes.

'Why does everyone want to know what I look like?' Kakashi thought to himself, they were all Shinobi after all, they had more important things to do, like killing bandits, there was no time for superficial things like relationships, not at this stage in their lives anyway.

"Anyway" Naruto continued, he was watching steam waft out of the cup and Kakashi was sure that Naruto was salivating at the mouth. "I don't have to cover my face if no one is ever going to see me"

Kakashi didn't have the heart to tell Naruto that he was far too closely tied to the village than he could ever comprehend at such a young age, his father was the Fourth Hokage, his mother one of the strongest kunoichi in her time, Jiraiya of the legendary Sannin had already claimed him as a student, because it was his birthright, by the time Naruto was finished with Jiraiya, he was going to be too strong to be kept in the dark, he was going to be used as something that threatens villages, he hoped that Naruto would take to the light as well as he had taken to the shadows, he could only hope.

He continued staring at Naruto, who had finally opened the packet and was now gobbling its contents down his throat, his love for Ramen reminded him of Kushina, she seemed to love it just as much as he did, maybe even more than him. He stared at Naruto as he continued to eat, his eyes weren't really that joyous anymore, and they seemed to have a hardened edge to them.

"What are you looking at?" Naruto asked him through a full mouth.

Kakashi shook his head, indicating that he did not want to answer, Naruto had learned that soon about him and had learned to keep his mouth shut when he was told, his loudmouth tendencies were all but gone now.

So was his attire, he was different now, he was more like Kakashi, he did not wear the flack jacket of course, but the blue pants were replaced by grey pants, and he wore a black shirt. He had also lost a bit of fat on his face, which made him look slightly leaner, there was no doubt that he was going to have women looking at him once he was slightly older, probably not in the village though.

Kakashi grit his teeth in frustration, this village they were supposed to protect had forsaken him, he wasn't sure what the Hokage was thinking, but had someone actually looked out for Naruto, and cared enough to actually get to know him, someone influential who could actually take care of him, and Naruto would have realized his limitless potential sooner.

"I can't believe I am saying this" Naruto was finally done with the ramen and was now talking to Kakashi, which snapped him back into reality. "But I miss the village, it's mostly the ramen but I even want to see what everybody in my class has gotten up to lately, even Sakura and Ino, I wonder how they are doing"

"Isn't that Yamanka girl part of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio?" Kakashi asked Naruto who nodded. They had gone in on a cleanup job recently, their team had been given a C-Rank mission and had made a mess of cleaning the camp, and Naruto and Kakashi were the ones sent to clean up the escaped bandits, Kakashi was almost disturbed when Naruto nonchalantly told him that chasing and killing bandits and making them feel helpless was the most fun he had ever had in his life, but who was he to judge, he was in the same boat as Naruto.

"Did you know?" Kakashi started. "I was supposed to take Team 7, and you were to be a part of that team too" Kakashi told him. Naruto raised his eyebrow.

"Part of the team with whom?" Naruto asked him.

"Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno" Kakashi told him, and Naruto paled.

"Phew" he said, mock wiping his forehead. "We dodged a bullet, because that team would have been a nightmare for all of us"

"Why?" Kakashi was curious to know Naruto's thought process.

"Well, for starters, it would be awkward working with Sasuke, I mean he's fine but he's too egotistical to work in any team ever, and Sakura is in love with him" Kakashi smiled at Naruto, he had used air quotes when he had gotten to the word love. "Also, where would I fit in, Sakura is smart but she hates the hell out of me, for some reason, I used to have a crush on her and I'm sure she still holds that against me"

"Go on" Kakashi said to him, he wanted to hear more.

"The day Iruka-" Naruto still had problems dealing with Umino's death but it was getting better by the day, he had moved on, he had changed, as anyone would when something that significant happens in their lives, but he was better for it, wiser.

"The day Iruka was killed by that fucker Mizuki" Naruto spat Mizuki's name out like it was a sin to even think about him, Kakashi couldn't help but feel bad for his student, he had gone through blaming himself and then blaming other people, soon the kid would realize that things just happen, and he would grow disconnected from the world like he had, it was inevitable for any ninja who lived beyond twenty to feel that way after all.

"I realized something, our lives are tied by a thread, a very week thread, one slight jerk and the thread snaps and our lives snap, some people die, but it changes everyone, I always seemed to want to die, because I couldn't bear the loneliness, but I can't anymore, death is what we're all afraid of, and I've seen it, and lived to tell the tale. Sakura hasn't, and when she does, who knows if she'll be brave enough to face the demons that come along with it, or if she'll just wither away, I really hope she grows up fast, because otherwise, she's going to die, and nothing can stop that from happening" Naruto finished his monologue and looked at Kakashi, who began clapping.

"Bravo" he said, clapping slowly enough to indicate that he was being sarcastic, but it had been a good speech. "Speeches like those are used by the Hokage's themselves you know" he said, and it was true, all the Hokages were known for being able orators who inspired their underlings to reach inside and pull out feats of greatness.

"I don't even know if I will ever be Hokage, but I sure as shit am going to leave my mark on this world" Naruto told him, and Kakashi nodded. The fire they had lit was dying down, which meant that it was time to go into sleeping bags and wake up in the morning.

"I am going to secure the site" Kakashi told him before getting up and performing a shunshin and vanishing.

-x-

Naruto stared at his status screen, he had forgotten about the game really, he still performed the quests, but he was beyond caring, resigned to the fact that he was now a plaything, and he almost accepted his fate.

He wondered about his past lives, what the fuck was the point of that, wasn't letting other people in the game also an option, why didn't they do that, why was he being asked to live his life over and over again.

"Kai" he said, hoping he could dispel a genjutsu, he wondered why he hadn't tried that before, and came to the conclusion that he never knew until he was taught by Kakashi about how to dispel a genjutsu.

Going back to his status screen seemed weird, his growth was getting harder and harder as the levels went by.

**Naruto Uzumaki, Lvl 29, The Gamer.**

**STR: 76**

**DEX: 174**

**VIT: 458**

**INT: 176**

**WIS: 112**

**LUK: 500+**

**Information:**

**HP: 6870**

**CP: 4580**

He had no doubt that despite his high vitality, he was not safe, he had seen Kakashi sensei pull of moves that could probably finish him off in one second, but he had been training a lot, and the more he trained, the more his stats went up, especially DEX, which was at an all-time high, almost as high as his intelligence, and all of it was because of training. His LUK was still incredibly high, and he wondered if there was a bug, but then remembered browsing the manual one time, there were no bugs in the game.

Or were they? Was there a bug that could make him break the cycle? That was something to think about for sure. The only thing he was sure of was the fact that he was probably better than all his peers by now, maybe even better than Sasuke, and some people in the class above him, or maybe all the people in the class above him.

Naruto never considered himself to be arrogant, but he did take pride in being good at what he could do, and he was getting good. These days Kakashi sensei didn't even participate in their regular bandit exterminations, everything was left to him with Kakashi taking care of mere loose ends, it made him feel good about himself, better than he had ever felt in a long ass time.

He then decided to see the titles he had last equipped, they seemed to be serving him well.

**Assassin: Silence. My brother  
****REWARDS: Assassination quests give out double EXP, Every successful assassination randomly increases a single attribute**

**Accomplished Stealth Expert: YOU CAN'T SEE ME!  
****REWARDS: Stealth related skills grow 50% faster**

**Lady Killer In The Making: Making the ladies swoooooooooon!  
****REWARDS: Reputation gains double with the female population**

Naruto grinned at the lady killer bit, that was pretty funny that he still had that thing equipped, it didn't seem to be making any difference to him either way, it was not like women were throwing themselves at him, that was still something only Sasuke was capable of doing, and Naruto was okay with that, he didn't need that kind of affection, he was fine exterminating bandits.

He was also surprised at how little he had actually learned in terms of skills, Kakashi taught him, but the things he had learned were more useful to him not being seen, and being able to escape if he was ever caught in a bind, the two of them didn't charge in, the old him would probably have loved doing that, but Naruto as he was right now didn't, he didn't care much for actually attacking in the broad daylight, he was fine with it. The one thing he seemed to have really upgraded was his stealth skill, which had automatically upgraded itself.

**Assassination Mode (Lvl 18) : Deadly, but silent  
****ACTIVE: Go into sneak mode, reducing the noise you make, the staple of any ninja  
****ACTIVE: Assassinate a person using the weapon equipped when you're in Sneak Mode. Targets below 14% HP are instantly killed. Does not work on berserkers  
****PASSIVE: It is 24% harder to detect you when you are sneaking  
****PASSIVE: When sneaking, knife damage is increased by 54%**

Naruto remembered how that had happened, he had assassinated someone for the first ever time, his stealth mode had already hit level 25 and had been capped, so it meant that the skill automatically upgraded itself. He was capable of doing a lot of damage when he used this skill, and he used this skill a lot, he was always in this mode, except when he was sleeping, but it grew very slowly.

He grinned at the method of exploitation he had used, the memory feedback of the clones which meant that he was growing faster in skills, and his growth in 3 months could be compared to someone training for about 30 months (Naruto typically trained with ten clones)

Another skill he had gotten better at would be Fuuinjutsu, where he was just a natural, he wondered why that was, the status that gave him the bonus in the art of sealing was still a question mark, which meant he did not know much about it, actually he didn't know anything at all.

Naruto grit his teeth, after all, half knowledge was dangerous and Naruto couldn't stand not knowing, but it was obvious everybody kept secrets from him, and Naruto had accepted that, secrets were the part of being a shinobi, he should have learned when he took the job, it took him longer still after he had taken the job, but he knew it now, and he wasn't going to forget.

**Level Two Fuuinjutsu (Lvl 14): I don't take your powers, I just seal them.  
****ACTIVE: Create Seals for your usage.  
****ACTIVE: Can use your own custom seal ink, seal costs reduced by 28%  
****ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded  
****PASSIVE: Your seals are 70% better.**

He hadn't really used clones, not because it wasn't possible, but because he seemed to progress so quickly anyway, and he had great love for making seals, he still had his three seals, but he had learned one more, he had found a scroll that had dropped from a bandit camp. He grinned, if Kakashi sensei knew that bandit camps were dungeons, he'd probably lose his sanity and end up showing his face to everyone and confess his love to everyone, but that wasn't ever going to happen.

**Four Point Encampment Barrier (Lvl 3): What goes in must go out. Nothing goes in.  
****REQUIREMENTS: 4 Clones, 500 CP  
****ACTIVE: Create a solid shield of chakra that is impenetrable, the shield has HP equal to 25% of the user's HP  
****ACTIVE: Damage done to the shield is reduced by 10%**

He had yet to use it in real life combat, but he was looking forward to the day he could actually use it.

Naruto stared at the general direction where he figured Kakashi was, and nothing seemed to happen. Kakashi was probably even more silent than he ever could be, but when he came back it was with a scroll.

"What's in that scroll?" Naruto asked Kakashi, he was curious, was it the summon home, which was what Kakashi had told him was going to be coming soon, but Kakashi shook his head.

"Not really a summon home, we have to move now" there was a tone of urgency in his voice.

"Aw, but I really wanted to sleep" Naruto said to him, he hated that he was sounding so whiny, but it was true, he was in the need of a good rest.

"Later" Kakashi waved his hand, "Pack this all up, we are going to move, we are the closest to the Land Of The Waves anyway.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Land of the Waves, what's there, is that still our jurisdiction?"

"Technically a free country where every shinobi can operate, but we have a team that needs help, and this might be of interest to you, they are the Team 7, you know, the team you were supposed to be in"

Naruto quickly peeked at the new notification that had popped up.

**QUEST ALERT**

**To The Land Of The Waves We Go: A Land full of water, and a big effing sword.**

**Description: You have been ordered to go to the Land Of The Waves with Kakashi sensei, what you will find there is something you'll find out when you get there.**

**Objectives:**

**1. Reach the Land Of The Waves.**

**You cannot refuse this mission, as it is a story quest.**

'Ah, a story quest, there aren't very many of these are they' Naruto thought. 'This is only the second one'

He thought back darkly to the last one, someone close to him had died, so whose number was it going to be next, he hoped it was not him or Kakashi sensei. He was also curious about team seven, because it consisted of Sasuke, Sakura and Ami, Ami was another girl in their class, he had never really thought she was going to be any good at being a ninja, but who the fuck was he to assume, he had failed the exams twice.

Naruto wanted to know what was going to happen, but at the same time was filled with trepidation, Sasuke seemed alright for someone so stuck up, but Sakura hated his guts, and Ami from what little he knew of her hated him, and often bullied everyone else. He grit his teeth, he knew that he was being called to assist, which meant they were in serious trouble. He needed to go faster, he looked at Kakashi, they had finished packing everything up and Naruto wordlessly threw everything in a sealing scroll, he saw Kakashi nod in what he thought was appreciation, he had really gotten good at this.

They took off, and Naruto smiled, that was another thing he had learned, one of the first things too, the ability to walk and climb trees without using his hands, he was pretty good at it too, but he was puzzled as it never really showed up as a skill in his skill list, Naruto could also walk on water and that didn't seem to be a skill either. Naruto theorized that those were basic things that were the bread or butter of any shinobi, it was stupid if he would have Walk as a skill, well to a shinobi Tree climbing was similar, everybody pretty much learned it at the very beginning.

He activated his Run skill which made him faster than usual, and Kakashi kept up effortlessly, Naruto hadn't thought much of Kakashi when they had started, no one would, given Kakashi's tendencies to slack off and read porn in front of impressionable little children, but the man was a maniac, and he learned that pretty quickly.

**Sometime three months ago**

_Naruto was tied to a log, and Kakashi was standing in front of him._

"_What the hell are you doing?" Naruto asked him, there was fear in his voice, Kakashi was blasting his killing intent at him. Naruto was on the verge of pissing his pants but steeled himself for what was to come._

_"Your life" Kakashi said to him. "It's not easy, not just because you are an orphan and have had a lonely life, but because you are a shinobi" his voice seemed to grow scarier with every word._

_"You know the number one thing ninjas should be good at?" Kakashi asked him. Naruto shook his head, he didn't know, actually he thought it was stealth but he didn't want to answer the question because he was afraid that he was going to get his head kicked in or something drastic._

_"Withstanding pain" Kakashi said before punching Naruto in the face, Naruto heard the sickening crack of bone on bone and realized that he had probably broken a bone or something, there was immense pain now, and his eyes were tearing up from it._

_"You realize that anyone could die, but dying is easy" Kakashi continued, he punched Naruto again. There was more pain and Naruto was sure he was going to pass out, he wondered why he hadn't passed out already._

_"You- need-to- know-pain-is-worse-than death" each word was punctuated with punches and Naruto was this close to knocking himself out, but then he realized something, he was tied to the log with a rope, Kakashi had no right to beat him up, and suddenly his fear changed to anger. His blood curled and he quickly performed the rope escape, and as the next punch came, he switched himself out with the log, which caused Kakashi's hand to hit the log._

_Naruto didn't need much after that, and punched Kakashi in that brief, solitary moment of distraction, this was his best chance and he felt a sick satisfaction when his own fist connected, his anger and fear had produced adrenaline in his body, which had worked as he heard the same sickening crunch, and Kakashi staggered backwards._

_Naruto stared at him. 'I'm done for, that's it, I'm fucked' he thought to himself. But the fear just vanished, and Kakashi was- smiling?_

_"Are you insane?" Naruto knew for sure his masked sensei was smiling and was livid, what kind of sick person was this guy._

_"I was wondering when you were going to do that" Kakashi said to him, before walking up to him and handing him an ointment of some sort._

_"Some herbalists in Konoha's R&D came up with this, a lot of people swear by it" Kakashi thrust the ointment in Naruto's hands, Naruto just stared at Kakashi, swollen face and all, he couldn't believe it._

_"Lesson number one- Do not tolerate pain, fight it, fighting pain, or just the hope of fighting it is the only thing that will make the pain go away" Kakashi told him wagging his finger like a teacher would, it was mocking, but Naruto understood, who knew that just beating him up meant the message would be delivered that much quicker._

_The ointment felt good, and Naruto felt his wounds healing and his pain slowly fading away, he needed to learn how to make some on his own. As he continued rubbing it on his now healing face, he wondered how good this ointment was, and how right Kakashi was. He was deceiving, it wasn't just porn reading and laziness that defined his new sensei, there was something else, something powerful, and for some reason, despite the insane way of delivering the message to him, Naruto realized that he was going to be fine if he followed Kakashi's advice._

**End Flashback**

That was the day Kakashi had gained Naruto's trust as a teacher, and Naruto had slowly realized that there was another person who did not care what he was, or what he held for that matter, Kakashi was never as stern as he was on that fateful day again, in fact he was humorous and quite jovial, Naruto wondered if the whole face breaking exercise was like a warning to him, something that told him that his insolence was going to be punished, quite fortunately he never found out because apart from weakly protesting, Naruto was hardly insolent, he followed whatever Kakashi told him, he knew that it was good for him and his development told him that he was right, he was progressing quickly.

They continued running, it had been an hour since he had started, and apart from feeling like he wanted to sleep, nothing else had really happened to Naruto, he wasn't feeling particularly tired, but then again, he never did, he had a lot of chakra and a lot of stamina, he could run like this and make it all the way to Cloud country if he wanted to.

He had learned to kill under Kakashi, he knew that he had already killed Mizuki, but he wasn't himself when that happened, this was actually an all-out killing and Kakashi had eased the process for him, he remembered his first ever assassination, it was a rich business man, his name was Yoshida Shimohira, and Konoha wanted him out of the picture.

**Sometime Two Months Ago**

_Kakashi was standing at the edge of the cliff that provided a nice clear view of a village, and Naruto joined him._

_"What did you learn about the target?" Kakashi asked him. Naruto looked slightly puzzled when Kakashi used the word target, after all the person they were killing was also a human being._

_"Can you not call him a target?" Naruto asked him. "It freaks me out, he has a name after all, why don't we use his name?"_

_"That is because then you would be humanizing the target, and we do not want to do that, that is the last thing anyone should do" Kakashi told him patiently, the tone Kakashi was taking with him would have told any bystander that this was not the first time they were having this conversation, this had come up before, after taking Mizuki's life, Naruto hadn't exactly been keen to take another one, after all only a month, five weeks and four days to be exact, had passed._ _(Naruto would never confess to actually counting them, but he was) _

_"He seems like an innocent guy" Naruto said truthfully, "I mean I followed him around, and he has a daughter, she is my age I think, a girl, very pretty. He adores her, I saw him at the market, buying her a lollipop" his tone had suddenly turned wistful. "I mean a girl my age shouldn't be sucking on lollipops right?" Naruto asked Kakashi._

_"Well, in ten years she'll be sucking something else I'm sure" Kakashi said to him, he was probably thinking of his porn when he said that. "So I think it's better that it's a lollipop in her mouth don't you think?"_

_"Yeah, why is everyone I know a pervert, the old man, and now you. Iruka sensei was too" Naruto said. 'Well, at least a little bit' Naruto thought silently. "But that's not the point" Naruto sounded exasperated, "He seems innocent, he did not so much as look around in a suspicious way, so why the hell do we want to kill him?" Naruto asked Kakashi._

_"Take this" Kakashi handed him a file, and inside the file were photos, photos of Yoshida with women who were not his wife, and yes, there were multiple women, and all of them seemed to be dressed salaciously. Like the women in his district. They looked like prostitutes._

_"They are prostitutes?" Naruto asked him, it was unbelievable to him that someone who seemed like an average doting dad was actually a regular customer at a brothel._

_"No no Naruto" Kakashi shook his head before smiling with his eyes. "They are his prostitutes"_

_"He runs a brothel" Naruto was shocked, people who ran brothels weren't that well dressed, he had his run-ins with pimps, and they seemed to be decked out in jewelry, this man was more than just that. And then he turned the first page. What he saw next made him sick, there were reports of him kidnapping and selling little girls, he mostly targeted orphans, little girls who had no parents to take care of them, like him, and it made him sick to his stomach, he was also caught selling information to bandits, and bandits were in general a mess._

_"Do you know why I am showing you this?" Kakashi asked him. Naruto nodded._

_"You want me to be aware of the reason to kill him" Naruto's answer was apparently not satisfactory enough because Kakashi shook his head._

_"No, he could be the world's finest citizen and I'd still ask you to kill him" Kakashi told him. "Because that's the mission, Naruto, we are not the good guys here, this is your story and so you are its protagonist, but we are not good guys, we are most certainly not moral people, because we kill, but we have to do it because we have been commanded to do it, and we have to follow the mission"_

_"So the mission comes first?" Naruto asked him._

_Kakashi looked at him with what Naruto assumed was a curious expression, but there was something about his eyes, a sense of recognition maybe._

_"No, the mission doesn't come first, your comrades come first, if there is a choice between killing Yoshida and saving your life, I'd save you first, I expect you to do the same when faced with a choice like that. I learned that the hard way, doesn't mean you should too" Kakashi told him._

_Naruto was wide eyed, but he nodded in understanding._

_"Remember" Kakashi said, it sounded like a warning. "Those who abandon the mission are trash, but those who abandon their friends and comrades are worse than trash" Kakashi finished._

_Naruto clenched his fists together, he knew what he had to do, and he accepted it, he was going to kill him._

_"So why did you tell me?" Naruto asked him before setting off. The plan was simple, he was going to be stealthy, it was hard to detect him for a few ninja and nigh impossible for a regular civilian to find him, he was going to sneak into Yoshida's mansion and go into his room and finish him off, his wife was away for the night so he was going to be alone, or with a whore, but he was going to do it silently and sneak back out._

_"To make it easy"_

**End Flashback**

That had made it easy, and the other kills did not come with the hesitation before them the first one had brought, Naruto had killed Mizuki first, but this was his first kill, and Kakashi had talked him through it, it was nice to learn so much from him, maybe it was the videogame but all of a sudden he was a big fan of progression, and he kind of liked learning.

He smiled as he skipped several trees in one bound, a few months ago he wouldn't be caught dead saying that, but things changed rapidly.

"We are almost there, we made good time on the trip eh?" Kakashi asked Naruto who nodded wordlessly, they had made excellent time, both of them had amazing stamina, so it never seemed to be a problem and they got everywhere pretty quickly, this wasn't any different.

"Are you going to tell me anything about the mission?" Naruto asked him, he realized suddenly that he was getting curious about it. Kakashi looked at him as they leaped a few more trees, it was about three in the morning and the sun was going to be up in a few more hours, they had around half an hour more of forest before they'd run into open space, and Wave Country wasn't that far away.

"I would have, had you asked" Kakashi told him.

"I assumed that I would learn when I got there" Naruto was not happy, the game had told him that he'd learn what happened when he got to the location.

"Well that is true" Kakashi's voice had mirth in it. "But that is because the situation is so- fluid" he said after pausing for a bit. "As far as we've been told, Team 7 and their sensei, Genma Shiranui, I'm sure you know who he is"

Genma, Naruto had to rack his brain to remember, but then it came to him in a flash.

"Yeah, the guy with the senbon in his mouth" Naruto always thought that the senbon in the mouth thing was pretty cool.

"Senbon?" Kakashi sounded confused. "Wasn't it a toothpick?"

"Who the fuck cares what Genma puts in his mouth, just tell me what happened, sensei"

Kakashi was silent, waiting for Naruto to say something and Naruto finally relented. "Yeah, I heard it as soon as I said it"

Kakashi chuckled, 'A pervert in the making' he thought before continuing on with the report. "So, Genma Shiranui and his team had set out on what was supposed to be a C-Rank mission, but it wasn't, apparently they were lied to, now they decided to persist with the mission, but someone came up"

Naruto didn't say anything after Kakashi's pause, he was waiting for Kakashi to continue.

"You've heard of Zabuza Momochi?" Naruto nodded, he had studied the bingo book and Zabuza was one of the best in there, at least the one with the highest bounty.

"You mean that a bunch of genin and one jounin fought Zabuza, he's strong isn't he?" Naruto asked him.

Ignoring the irony of a genin himself using the word 'mere genin', Kakashi continued. "Genma was enough to take on Zabuza, he's pretty strong, but the kids got in the way. They managed to somehow beat Zabuza, but Genma is seriously hurt, and is not going to be able to recover in time to complete the mission, which means an extra jounin is required, and yours truly is filling in.

"So where do I fit in?" Naruto asked him, curious about his role.

"We're a team, Naruto" Kakashi sounded like Naruto should have learned this a long time ago. "As long as we're a team, you go on missions I go on, so let's just run right to the land of the waves" he said before speeding up, making Naruto let out a loud 'fuck' and pump some more chakra to his legs.

It warmed his heart to know that Kakashi considered him to be a comrade, well an apprentice and someone to try his dirty jokes on, but it was good enough for him.

"This fucking country couldn't come fast enough" Naruto said, not sure if Kakashi heard him as they sped up towards the land of the waves.

-x-

* * *

**OMAKE**

**Naruto's Replay Theater**

**Welcome to the replay theater, this isn't available to the players themselves for spoiler purposes, but it can be seen by the spectators who are already aware of future events.**

**In the replay theater we look at different playthroughs, or different compilations of a single playthrough, it doesn't really matter. Today in the replay theater, we look at Naruto's relationship with different women, so hold on tight because our first segment is Naruto- The Morning After.**

**_Sakura_**

_Naruto woke up with a start, yesterday night had been a long, really long night. They had been up all night after all. Naruto smiled as he looked at the sleeping love of his life, he had become Hokage already and was one of the most feared people in the entire world and yet Sakura struck the fear of death in him, she really was something else._

_They didn't have the best of starts, he had a helpless crush on her and she was mad about Sasuke, so she wasn't really into him, but once Sasuke deserted the village, Naruto became the guy she fell for, and she developed herself, becoming one of the greatest medical ninjas there is, thus making Naruto actually fall in love with her this time._

_They had gotten married a few months ago, Ino had organized the whole thing and was completely dominant when she did it, but she did do a spot on job, none of the attendees were ever going to forget the spectacle that was Uzumaki Naruto and Sakura's wedding._

_Sakura began stirring. "Hey" she said, squinting her freshly opened eyes._

_"Hey" Naruto said to her, smiling. "In an hour I have to go to work"_

_Sakura groaned. "Me too. Can't we stay like this forever?"_

_Naruto looked at her curiously. He had been Hokage for three years and it was tiresome, he was disillusioned with doing this job. He would always love being a shinobi but after peace had been restored to the world and all the villages had become cooperative, it didn't seem likely that Konoha would seriously need his protection. He wished he could just quit._

_"We can, if we quit" Naruto told her. Sakura instantly got up, Naruto couldn't blame up, he had a never give up attitude and even the suggestion of giving up would have shocked her._

_"Are you saying you want to quit?" Sakura asked him slowly, sounding out each word. Naruto nodded and Sakura's response was a wide open mouth._

_"Let's quit, let's fuck off somewhere you know, we have all the money in the world, if we ever run out I can sell some seals" Naruto told her, and Sakura started looking thoughtful._

_"I've always wanted a child" she said slowly, Naruto nodded._

_"Yes, a child, a child who won't need to be a shinobi, because the world is peaceful" Naruto told her, and Sakura smiled._

_"We really are quitting aren't we?" she asked him. Naruto nodded._

_"I love you Naruto" Sakura said to him, her voice was full of it, Naruto knew this about her very well, he could tell when she was talking to him with love and when she was pissed off and several other moods in the middle._

_Naruto kissed her on the mouth for one full minute, she responded enthusiastically. "I love you too" he mumbled through the fervent making out._

_They were going to be alright_

**_Anko_**

_"You are fucked up Naruto" Anko told him seriously. It was early in the morning and Anko had woken up to the sight of Naruto giving her breasts undue attention. _

_"Your breasts are fucked up" Naruto told her honestly before diving right back into the middle of them and rubbing his nose. Anko giggled._

_"I thought you loved them, aren't you always grabbing them?" Anko asked him. _

_"That's because you're always showing them" Naruto said. "But there is something I love more than your breasts" Naruto said to him. Anko was curious now, she'd always thought that Naruto loved her breasts the most, so what was it that he loved even more than that._

_"Your ass" Naruto said, before turning her around and entering her. Anko gasped, they were both naked, they rarely wore clothes when they were at home because they were so horny around each other, almost like rabbits, and she loved it._

_Anko remembered the first time she noticed Naruto in a sexual way, it was when he was 19, about two years before the war had begun. He had grown up and lost all the baby fat on his face, and even though she was six years older than him, she found him ridiculously attractive. She wondered why all the women were fawning over that Sasuke guy (who had been returned to the village with an alive and redeemed Itachi Uchiha and a dead Orochimaru in tow) when there was a hunk right there, waiting to be torn apart._

_She hadn't made a move however because she respected the Hyuuga girl, but after going out with Hinata for a few months, Naruto had broken up with her, he had told her later on that their relationship was not really like the real thing, it was almost like he was dating his fangirl or something, it was unbelievable but Naruto and Hinata's relationship improved after the break up, they were very good friends now. _

_So it was on his 21st birthday, after two whole years of being attracted to him she finally made her move, she was drunk and so was he, but they both remembered that night, and it was awesome after that, they used each other thoroughly and things were good._

_However the more she thought about it, the more things changed between them, or at least for her. She used to be into sex with him, but lately it was his face, she wanted to look at it and kiss it, maybe it was his idealism that had gotten to her, maybe it was his undying will, Anko did not know._

_"Naruto" she said coming back to the present. "Stop"_

_Anybody else would take a while, but not Naruto. He stopped immediately and turned her back around, he was looking at her now and there was concern in his eyes. The look in his eyes made her heart melt, what was happening to her._

_"Did I hurt you?" he asked worriedly. _

_"No, it was good. I just-" Anko was scared to say it, but she was going to now. "I love you" she said _

_Naruto looked at her with a shocked expression on his face, and Anko hoped he could say something, anything, except what he was doing now. It was five whole minutes before he finally sputtered out '"Why?"_

_"If I knew" Anko said honestly, "I'd try to fix this, because love is sappy bullshit. But I think these days it's more than just sex, I want to hold you, and I don't want to fuck you, I want to make love to you, do you understand?"_

_Naruto bent down and kissed her on the mouth, but it wasn't really fiery like their other kisses, this was not rushed. His tongue ran on her lips, asking for permission, which she gave him, as they kissed, Naruto entered her slowly. Anko gasped again._

_"What are you doing?" she hissed as Naruto bit her on the spot where her curse seal used to be, Naruto had purged that a while ago._

_"Making love" he mumbled as he began slowly thrusting. Anko smiled._

_He hadn't said 'I love you' back, she was going to hold him to that later._

**_Naruko_**

_"Shut up and fuck me" Naruko said to him as Naruto thrust into her. She let out a moan. She had taken many lovers in her time, but her twin brother was still the best, much better than her useless husband anyway._

_"This is so fucked up" Naruto said, gasping the words out between each thrust._

_"Then why the fuck do you love it so much?" she asked him._

_"I don't know, honestly, I don't" he said, before she reached up to him and kissed him in the mouth. Naruto's hands wandered up to her hair, her smooth hair and he ran his fingers through this._

_"This is so fucked up" he said again, probably for the fifth time since the encounter had begun. They had stopped kissing and Naruto had momentarily stopped thrusting and was looking into Naruko's blue eyes._

_"If you say that one more time, you will be the one who's fucked up" she said before deciding to do Naruto's job for him and began thrusting herself on him. Naruto let out a groan._

_"Your husband will kill me" Naruto said to her._

_"My husband is an impotent fool" she said to him, she hadn't stopped thrusting._

_"Your husband is my best friend" Naruto said to her, before gripping her tightly and deciding to do some thrusting himself, he was rougher and Naruko moaned, now this was the Naruto she liked. He was rough, but she could take a little pain._

_"Do you not like it when I make fun of your best friend?" she asked Naruto who did not respond. "Don't tell me you actually have a thing for Sasuke Uchiha" she said to him._

_"Do you want to kill my erection?" Naruto asked her, before he shut her mouth with his right hand, and slapped her with his left._

_Naruko looked outraged, but he slapped her again. And again, and again._

_He slapped her ten times and her face was now red, and finally pulled his hand off her mouth._

_"You motherfu-" Naruko's lips were claimed by Naruto's as they began kissing before she could finish the sentence._

_"Bed" Naruto said roughly, before picking her up while he was still inside her. Naruko giggled, which was not like her, her face was smarting but she was okay with it for now._

_He threw her down roughly, before jumping on her and the penetration began again, he was even faster than when they were standing up._

_"Is there trouble at home?" Naruko asked him, and Naruto stopped again._

_"I caught her with Chouji" Naruto told her, he began thrusting again, but this time it was slower._

_"Is that what you were slapping me for?" she asked him._

_"Well, you are blonde too right?" he asked her jovially, she smacked him lightly on the face before kissing him._

_"I told you not to marry her" she mumbled._

_"It seemed like the right thing to do at the time" he mumbled back._

_"Well, you done fucked up, now let me get on top, I'm going to ride you like there's no tomorrow"_

_It was amazing, they were both 33 years old now, and their sexual escapades began when they were 14, every single time, they said that they'd never do it, but they always went back to each other. They were orphans after all, and understood each other the best. She was in love with her brother and he was right._

_They were finally done, Naruko screamed as she felt her orgasm arrive, Naruto came at around the same time too. _

_Five minutes later they were both cuddling naked and Naruto was slowly running a finger through her cheeks, she loved it when he did that._

_"This is so fucked up" Naruko told him, and Naruto just smiled in response._

_"I know we say that we'll never do it, but after a few years we break the promise, always" Naruko thought back to the last time they had done this, it was three years ago, it was hard to watch him holding another woman's hand, it drove her crazy to feel that way. What was worse was that it was with her enemy, Ino Yamanaka_

_"Let's never say it then" Naruto told her, and Naruko knew he meant it._

_"You mean you would rather we continue doing this?" she asked him. "This, this is wrong Naruto" she told him, there were tears in her eyes._

_"Nothing that can be as wrong as you say it is should feel good" he told her, and Naruko agreed with him, she nodded._

_"I love you, I have always loved you, we came into this world together, we've done everything together, and while this is fucked up, what we're doing, I don't mind doing this with you, because there is no one else I'd rather do it with. Do you understand?" he asked her._

_She nodded. "Sasuke has that Hokage meet thing tomorrow, are you going?" she asked him. _

_"I can send a clone" he told her, "It's not like he can't take care of himself"_

_"Good, come to me tomorrow" she told him._

_"Who said I'm finished?" Naruto asked her before entering her again, rougher than usual._

_"Oh my" Naruko thought as they continued to sin, she wondered why all sinful things felt so good as he continued thrusting in her._

_-x-_

**So thus ends Naruto's replay theater, where we explore the morning after with several other female characters, life is fucked up isn't it my dear viewers, I hope you realize that.**

* * *

**Naruto Uzumaki, Lvl 29, The Gamer.**

**STR: 76**

**DEX: 174**

**VIT: 458**

**INT: 176**

**WIS: 112**

**LUK: 500+**

**Information:**

**HP: 6870**

**CP: 4580**

******Ninja Substitution (Lvl 37): Stop in the name of the log.  
****ACTIVE: Replace yourself with another object to get out of a spot of bother. Works over 200 meters. Cast time is 0.4 seconds. Cost: 10 CP, 1 unfortunate object.**

**Observe (Lvl 40): No shit Sherlock.  
****ACTIVE: Analyze your target to find more about them (or it). Higher levels will lead to more discoveries.**

**Kunai Skill (Lvl 43): **  
**Yes, that is a knife in my pocket.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 130% with knives. **  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 100% with two or more knives.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased damage by 150% with knives.**  
**ACTIVE: Throw five knives at a singular target, causing 210% more damage. Cost CP:10, Kunai:3**

**Shuriken Skill (Lvl 30):****I throw for the kill.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 105% with Shuriken**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 75% with multiple Shuriken**  
**PASSIVE: Increased Shuriken Damage by 120%**  
**ACTIVE: Throw eight shuriken at one target. Increased 60% damage from Shuriken.**

**Explosion Tag (Lvl 35): True art is explosion. BOOM!  
ACTIVE: Create a tag that explodes after a custom amount of time. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 50 Seconds  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by half**

**Storage Seal (Lvl 38): Space? I got space.  
ACTIVE: Create a storage seal capable of sealing objects. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 250 Seconds.  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by half**

**Smoke Bomb Seal (Lvl 25) : This shit might give you cancer  
****ACTIVE: Create a seal that gives smoke when it goes off, thus temporarily blinding your enemy. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls, 140 Seconds  
****PASSIVE: The blinding effect is 75% more effective and lasts 62% longer.**

******Shadow Clones (Lvl 30): There's more of us, and we're all real.**  
**ACTIVE: Create up to 240 corporeal clones.  
ACTIVE:Create a clone which splits your chakra into two, half the chakra of the clone is split between subsequent clones. Clones have memory feedback.**

******Exploding Shadow Clones (Lvl 17): Don't touch me baby, I'm dynamite**  
**ACTIVE: Create up to 25 corporeal clones that can explode upon command.  
ACTIVE: Divides your CP by two for every clone made (similar to Shadow Clone), also costs 200 extra CP for every clone made**

**********Detect (Lvl 38): Are you all alone in the dark?  
****ACTIVE: Use your sensory skills to detect presences that can be hidden in the area. The higher the skill, the better the detection.  
****ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded**

******Level Two Fuuinjutsu (Lvl 14): I don't take your powers, I just seal them.  
****ACTIVE: Create Seals for your usage.  
****ACTIVE: Can use your own custom seal ink, seal costs reduced by 28%  
****ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded  
****PASSIVE: Your seals are 70% better.**

**********Assassination Mode (Lvl 18) : Deadly, but silent  
****ACTIVE: Go into sneak mode, reducing the noise you make, the staple of any ninja  
****ACTIVE: Assassinate a person using the weapon equipped when you're in Sneak Mode. Targets below 14% HP are instantly killed. Does not work on berserkers  
****PASSIVE: It is 24% harder to detect you when you are sneaking  
****PASSIVE: When sneaking, knife damage is increased by 54%**

**************Four Point Encampment Barrier (Lvl 3): What goes in must go out. Nothing goes in.  
****REQUIREMENTS: 4 Clones, 500 CP  
****ACTIVE: Create a solid shield of chakra that is impenetrable, the shield has HP equal to 25% of the user's HP  
****ACTIVE: Damage done to the shield is reduced by 10%**

**********Disple Genjutsu (Lvl 10): KAI!  
ACTIVE: Dispels Genjutsu by releasing a burst of chakra, more effective with higher levels**

* * *

**********So I counted the words, and apparently 9,490 words of this would be the pure story and Omake part, so I hope this was long enough, I've been out because some stuff came up, but I was on a roll and I just felt like I could keep writing forever, maybe it has something to do with the fact that I moved my laptop on a table from the bed, and the improved posture means I can write for longer, who the fuck knew.**

**********I sent the story to my beta, for editing, but I couldn't even stop then, so after writing around 7,000 words of story I had resorted to writing detailed sex scenes in an Omake, the idea came to me from a review telling me to show Naruto getting with other women, and I thought, hey, if I'm not going to ship, I might as well write about Naruto's relationship in his past lives.**

**********There are three different worlds as you can tell, and the last one is pretty fucked up, I'll actually explore that world in detail later on, because I have a plan to work that in into an Omake, so you guys can find out what happened to the forbidden relationship between Naruto and Naruko, that should be fun shouldn't it?**

**********So if you want to see Naruto interact with more women in the Omake, leave me some names, make them obscure as fuck so that I am forced to come up with ridiculous stories to get them together, and of course sex. Don't drop male names, I'm okay with homosexuality but I have no experience with writing it..so..yeah.**

**********Some people might notice that Naruto seems confused about whether he likes the game, or he doesn't and that's why he sounds conflicted about it.**

**********Okay, moving on, this was story progression, I hope you guys liked where I went with Naruto, I didn't change the teams much because at this point, it's not really relevant, what I plan on doing means no one really conforms to a particular team anyway, so it's not important. Also if you notice the skill list, I cut some out, it was getting too long so I decided to leave some random ones in, they might change every chapter so it doesn't really matter anymore.**

**********Please don't complain that there wasn't much game in the chapter, I hope by this point you all realize that the game and it's UI is a backdrop to the story, so is every other game, the hallmark of a good game is you getting involved in the story (at least in story oriented games and RPG's), so just assume that's what happened, Naruto is playing a very good game and is caught up in the story.**

**********So that's it guys, in closing I want you to tell me a few things.**

**********How did you feel about the chapter and Naruto's progression? How did you feel about the Omake and should I do more? What is the music of life? And lastly, Who the fuck is Erza? Drop them in a review, but do not forget to review, reviews are like fuel that gets me going, so go ahead and drop reviews.**

**********Take care guys,**

**********Zap**


	9. Knight In Shining Armor

**Alright guys, new chapter time.**

**I'd like to thank malcolm, he kinda saved my ass on this chapter, he's awesome. **

**I do not own Naruto or The Gamer.**

* * *

The Land Of The Waves, or Nami No Kuni, but many people all over the world knew it by an accurate, yet not very polite nickname, and that was 'hellhole'. The country was poor, not much grew there and what little they did get was not enough, so starvation was rampant, there was no connection to the country in the form of a bridge, which meant that merchants from other countries never got there, and so people remained poor.

In the land of the poor, the rich are treated like Gods, and Gato was the God of the country, well, they didn't worship him, but he did have ridiculous power, and he exploited the land for what it was worth. Anyone who tried standing up to him met with a fate that was worse than death, public beatings to death were very common under his unofficial rule here, even the politicians were puppets, Gato's wealth and influence was enough that they were all in his pocket, they all did his bidding.

Naruto spat on the ground, he hated places like these, Gato was nothing but a bandit in a shiny suit and he wished he could kill him, Naruto would have no problem killing him after what he had just seen, a man was just thrown out of Gato's tent, and he was crying, it was obvious to anybody that he had been badly beaten, with one eye swollen shut and limping on one foot, Naruto grit his teeth, if he had gotten there earlier he could have done something about it but Kakashi sensei had told him not to break cover.

Sometimes he hated his job.

As the man was escorted by two goons while still crying, a sudden message popped up. Naruto decided to take a look at it.

**Waves Quest (1/15)**

**Knight In Shining Armor: Save the day, bitch!**

**Description: Bandits are going to kill an innocent and defenseless man, apprehend them and then do with them as you please.**

**Objectives**

**1. Stop the murder from occurring**

**Do you want to accept this quest?**

**(Y/N)**

Naruto knew that the mission was important, but an innocent man was about to be killed, now for a normal person this would be a dilemma, should you do the thing you have to do, or should you do the right thing, fortunately for him, he was not a normal person, he created a clone to keep watch on Gato as he left after the bandits, he could have sent a clone after them, but he wanted to feel the sick satisfaction of breaking their faces with his own bare hands.

As he followed them he observed his surroundings, the people here were very poor and the bridge that Tazuna guy was building would solve a lot of the problems here, merchants could flood in and the impoverished economy could be restored, this was the right thing to do, but for Gato this would mean disaster as his hold on the economy would drop, the more poverty he saw around the place, the more Naruto wanted to kill the son of a bitch responsible for this.

The bandits were pulling the limping man by the arm to a secluded place and the man seemed resigned to her fate, Naruto was in stealth mode and silently followed after them, they finally reached a forest and the bandits wasted no time throwing him on the ground, and this was the point where the man started crying again, he was begging for his life, he was begging for him to be spared, but the bandits seemed to be laughing, one of them said "You stink, how about a shower?" while laughing and zipping his pants down.

The man closed his eyes when he saw the exposed organ, but Naruto didn't close his eyes, he just saw a target, and a very effective target at that. He threw a knife at the member of the bandit, and he knew he made the connection because of the anguished cries of pain he heard not a second after he had thrown the knife.

Naruto didn't have to do much after that, as he charged in with the knife and one chakra enhanced punch was enough to take out the partner of the bandit, he then looked at the crying bandit who was bleeding out.

Naruto did not want anyone to know what he looked like because it would draw undue attention to himself, so he had used a mask, not different from Kakashi's and his headband was inside his jacket pocket, no one needed to know he was a shinobi at this point, Gato would only get suspicious if word of it spread everywhere.

"Aw" Naruto said looking at the crying bandit, he was in such pain that he hadn't even noticed Naruto's arrival and his partner getting knocked out.

"Help" the bandit yelped in pain, but Naruto just sneered, he knelt down in front of the bandit, who looked at him in the eye and radiated killing intent towards him.

Naruto just kneed his groin area and the bandit cried out in pain, this bandit was a sturdy one because Naruto knew that any normal person would have been dead or at least passed out by now.

"And when the man asked for help?" Naruto spit out each word, as in literally spit in the bandit's face, "I don't understand the world, the world can forsake a small child and call him a demon, but no one gives a fuck that somewhere else, a scumbag like you is getting his jollies off torturing and killing innocent men and whatever other ghastly, degenerate things you fucks do"

"But what you don't realize is that it all catches up to you" Naruto said ignoring the bandits cries for help and the begging to spare him.

"If you want to live" Naruto said, "I can make the pain go away, but you have to tell me something, and you have to tell me something now, is that understood?" the bandit nodded.

"Gato does not live in a tent, where does he live then?" the bandit remained silent and Naruto threatened to knee his groin again.

"Okay okay" the bandit said crying. "I'll tell"

The bandit then gave him the location of Gato's mansion, for a civilian, the man hid well, but apparently this mansion was big and spacious, how the fuck did he hide something so big and spacious, he was going to report his findings to sensei and ask if he could go and check the mansion out.

He felt memories return to him, which meant that the clone had dispelled itself, Gato was leaving, probably going to his hideout again, but he already knew where it was. He looked at the man, who to his surprise was still there.

"What the hell are you still doing here?" he asked her. The man looked at him, there were tears in his eyes, he had barely escaped with his life.

"Thank you" he stammered out.

Naruto nodded curtly "Try getting the hell out of here and don't come back till things get better, and keep your mouth shut about this"

The man nodded, thanked him again and limped away as quickly as he could. Naruto sighed, the odds were that he wasn't going to keep his mouth shut, people were like that, they never really could keep their mouths shut, it was always their mouths that got them in trouble. He looked at the helpless bandit but did not feel pity for him at all, he then looked at the chopped of penis of the man that was lying around ten feet away and he felt like hurling the ramen from early morning that was still in his stomach.

"Well" he said to the bandit. "I lied" before throwing a knife through his throat, the other bandit was still unconscious, a message popped up, but Naruto ignored it, the priority right now was to deal with this bandit.

He pulled out some water and threw it on the man's face.

"Wake the hell up already" he shouted in his ears, he had tied the bandit up to a tree so he wasn't going to try any funny stuff.

"Who the hell are you kid?" the bandit spit out in fear

"Yeah, I'm totally going to tell you, my name is Scrodie McBoogerballs, nice to meet you" he said trying to be as sarcastic as he could.

"Now" Naruto continued, "I am going to kill you so do you have any last words?"

"Please don't kill me" the bandit said, he sounded pathetic begging for his life, Naruto smiled. "I'll even give you Gato's hideout, I know you've been sent to kill him" the bandit was resorting to bargaining.

"Good" Naruto said. "You're on the fourth stage of grief" he clapped slowly, "Well done, but dickless over there already told me everything I need to know"

The bandit who was tied up sighed, "I can't really give you anything else, so might as well kill me then"

"You're on the seventh stage, directly from the fourth, that's amazing" Naruto said. "So any last words?"

The bandit didn't say anything, and Naruto plunged a knife through his throat, killing him.

**New Skill Learned**

**Torture (Lvl 1): Hammer, Tongs, and Electric Wires  
****ACTIVE: Torture the opponent to reveal information, the higher the level, the more you learn and the more creative the torture**

**Waves Quest (1/15)**

**QUEST COMPLETED!**

**Knight In Shining Armor: Save the day bitch!**

**Description: Bandits are going to kill an innocent and defenseless man, apprehend them and then do with them as you please.**

**Objectives**

**1. Stop the murder from occurring**

**2. Incapacitate/Maim/Torture/Kill the offenders.**

**REWARDS: 500 EXP**

Naruto sighed. 'One day, taking a dump in the bathroom might end up being a mission too, that would be pretty awesome actually' he thought before deciding to find Kakashi and tell him everything he knew.

-x-

Kakashi looked at Genma Shiranui and couldn't help but feel bad for him, no one deserved what had happened to him, his hands and legs were broken, Zabuza had done a number on him, but from what he had heard, he had done a number on Zabuza too. He looked at the genin students, Sasuke Uchiha looked indifferent, Ami was looking lovingly at Sasuke, which Kakashi found highly disturbing. Sakura was just scared for her sensei.

They had told him what happened, the team had been ambushed, which lead to a fight. Genma managed to get himself captured in a water prison, which was not good, but the team of fresh Genin came up with a plan so complicated that it made Kakashi's head hurt and they managed to get Genma out, Genma and Zabuza fought and basically fucked each other up, now Genma had lost consciousness and was not going to come to for quite some time.

This was so complicated.

"Well, I've heard what you have to say" Kakashi said to them, "And I would advise that you hold tight, now that I am here, we can take care of everything"

"Who the hell are you anyway, there is no way you can be better than Sasuke" Ami said to him. Kakashi never hit women (outside of combat), and thought that people who did were scumbags, but at that very moment he wanted to punch the living daylights out of Ami.

"Would you like to see me humiliate Sasuke?" Kakashi asked her with an even voice, even Sasuke and Sakura were looking extremely incredulous, at least they knew what level they were at, Kakashi was already missing Naruto, things with him were so much better.

"Um, Kakashi-san" Sakura said slowly, Ami looked significantly cowed after Kakashi's retort while Sasuke wished he could be anywhere else but here. "You said we, do you mean that you are going to work with us on this?" she asked him. Kakashi shook his head.

"No, you guys are not going close to this mission, I have a student who's going to join me, he has trained in things like this so he's the one who's going to be working with me, we'll take care of things and make sure that the bridge is built"

"Who is the student?" Ami asked Kakashi rudely, "I mean no way your student is better than Sasuke-kun, you should just take Sasuke on the mission instead" she sounded really snide.

'Someone should tell her to shut up' Kakashi thought, he was feeling gloomy. 'Naruto, please come back man, I can't believe how lame this sounds, but I already miss you'

"Ami" Sakura hissed. "You need to treat him with more respect, he is our superior and can punish us if he wants"

Kakashi's eyes lit up, yes, Sakura was really too smart.

"Right you are, Sakura, you see I am a jonin by the order of the Hokage himself, which means I hold a superior rank, so I can punish you for insubordination" he said, leaking a bit of killing intent and Ami paled.

"Your punishment" he said looking at Ami, "Is simple, run up and down the flight of stairs in this house we are staying in, a million times"

"WHAT?" Ami shouted in disbelief, but Kakashi just smirked. "Do you want it to be two million?" he asked Ami, who shook her head.

"Also, while running don't make a sound, and don't try to skip counts because I'll be watching" Kakashi told Ami, who almost had tears in her eyes as she left to do the running.

"Um, Kakashi-san" Sakura said. "She can't really run up and down the stairs without making a sound"

Kakashi smiled "I know, little Sakura, I know"

At this point Naruto decided to make himself available. The address Kakashi had given him seemed really vague and it took him five minutes of wandering about a random tree before he finally realized that Kakashi had horrible handwriting.

He finally made it and it looked like a nice enough house he supposed, there was a woman and Naruto didn't have to observe her to know that she was just a civilian.

"You must be Kakashi's disciple" she said to him, her face lighting up in recognition, Naruto wondered if Kakashi had shown her a picture or something. He could hear faint sounds of what he assumed was someone climbing the stairs as he moved in the house.

When he entered the house he saw Sakura sitting there, reading something. He smiled, she seemed to be tired, there were black circles under her eyes, it was weird saying this but he had missed her, he had missed everyone, maybe it was the situation of being away from his classmates that made him think this way, but Naruto was okay with that.

"Hey" he said, trying to get her attention, and it worked, she seemed to snarl, Sakura never did like being disturbed when she was reading something but her scowl vanished with a look of surprise, she took around ten seconds before she said something.

"Naruto?" she asked him, her voice was full of surprise, just like her face. "Is that you?" she asked him. Naruto just nodded, to which Sakura brought her hands together to do the familiar Genjutsu release seal, Naruto rolled his eyes when he saw her do that.

"Come on, I couldn't have changed that much" he said to her, Sakura just smiled at him.

"Don't tell me you are Kakashi-san's apprentice" she said to him, to which Naruto just nodded and Sakura's mouth flew open. Naruto wanted to tell her to close her mouth before flies went into it but he did not have the heart to tell her that.

"Wow, it shows, you kinda carry yourself like him now" she said to him appreciatively, Naruto was surprised at the reaction, the Sakura he knew would have probably said something snide, she had changed along with him it seemed, he wondered how much the others had changed.

"You know there were rumors about you" she continued, "Some villagers were saying that you couldn't carry yourself as a ninja and had thus run away, it's good to know there was no truth to those rumors"

Naruto sighed, the villagers were at it again. He almost wanted to laugh at the rumors of running away, if they knew how valuable he was (he himself had learned because Kakashi had told him so), then they wouldn't be saying that.

"Nope, I'm here, so how's the rest of the team?" he asked her, to which Sakura shrugged.

"Sasuke is probably training, and Ami is probably- well" Naruto didn't have to listen to the rest to understand, he was well aware of the dislike that Sakura and Ino held for Ami, so he waved her off before she could complete the sentence, he was sure that he was going to hear a few swear words from her if he hadn't stopped her, and while Naruto had no disdain for swear words, he wouldn't want Sakura to say those kinds of words, it didn't suit her.

He thought back to the last meeting he had with her, it was at Iruka's funeral, and he had insulted her, pretty badly, she either had forgotten completely about it or was so tired that it didn't matter if Naruto had done something wrong.

"Listen" he started. "About that time at Iruka's funeral"

Sakura did not seem to want to hear about that. "No need to apologize, Ino spoke to me about it, but she didn't have to. I had no idea what you were going through and I am not mad, in fact, I'd like to apologize" she said to him. Naruto was startled, Sakura was going to apologize to him.

"Did the sun rise in the west today?" he asked her, at which Sakura glared at him. Naruto grinned to indicate he was joking before signaling to let her continue again.

"That whole asking me out on a date thing freaked me out, but the way I reacted to those things was kind of bad too. I know now how alone you really were, and while I can't be your girlfriend, I would like very much to be your friend"

Naruto smiled. "Yeah, I kinda was out of line asking you out on all those dates, maybe it was to make myself feel better, but yeah, I can do friends" he said to her. "Truce?"

"Truce" she replied before smiling. She suddenly yelped in pain as her hand reached out to her head.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked her.

"Yeah, just a headache, I haven't slept" she said to him, "This whole Zabuza thing has us all on edge, Ami is just oblivious, Sasuke seems excited but I'm really scared" she said to him, and Naruto had to agree that she sounded scared.

"Kakashi sensei is here" he said to her. "And so am I, we won't let anything happen, Sakura, I promise, so why don't you tell me what happened" he walked up and took a seat beside her as Sakura continued explaining the entire situation, she didn't really say anything new that he wasn't already aware of. As she finished off her story, Kakashi finally came into the room.

"Ah, my lovely disciple, weren't you supposed to report to me as soon as you got here?" he asked Naruto.

"Yeah, but what's up with your handwriting man?" Naruto asked him. "I mean you can do seals but you can't write two sentences to save your life?"

"Too pointless, Naruto, too pointless" he said to Naruto, who had no idea what he meant.

Naruto looked at Sakura, she was looking really tired. "Go and take some rest, Sakura" he said to her, "I am going to talk to Kakashi"

-x-

"So you found his hideout, good work" Kakashi said to him.

"Yeah" Naruto said under his breath. "Only had to chop one guy's dick off to do it"

"What was that about a dick chopping?" Kakashi asked him, but Naruto felt it was prudent not to say anything to him at this point.

"Say the word, sensei" Naruto said to him. "This guy's a massive jerk-off, I wouldn't mind personally taking a knife and plunging it in the dude's throat and killing him"

Kakashi stared at Naruto, sometimes his bloodlust was really entertaining.

"As much as I would be entertained by you going murderous on Gato, you have to remember that we were not paid to take Gato out, we were paid to make sure that Tazuna was protected" Kakashi said to him. Naruto did not look happy at this statement.

"It's useless, you really think this will end if the bridge is completed, Gato is just going to wreck the bridge, what the hell are we going to do then, just sit and watch as that asshole rips this country apart?" Naruto was getting angry and his voice was rising.

Kakashi sighed at Naruto, his student had come a long way but sometimes he was too naive.

"Naruto, unfortunately we are not heroes, we are hired swords, just like how Zabuza is a hired sword, we don't save the world, we complete our missions and get paid, it's how it has always been" he said trying to be as kind as possible, he liked that Naruto did not stand for injustice but it was going to be harder for him to progress if he kept up the attitude.

"So what then, what the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Find his partner" Kakashi said to him. "Zabuza had a partner right, someone who saved his life when he was about to die, he was wearing a mask according to the genin, so find him, and see if you can find out where Zabuza is hidden, if we do, we will take him out while he is still weak" Kakashi said to him.

Naruto had adopted a steely expression all of a sudden, with a curt nod, he left.

-x-

Naruto stared at the girl in the clearing, she was picking up herbs. He knew the herbs she was picking out, they were used to cure paralysis and help with a stiff body. From what he had heard Kakashi tell him before he left to try and find the partner, he had put Zabuza in some sort of paralysis.

'Does she have senbon?' Naruto thought to himself, for someone to actually pull something like that off, they needed to be extremely skilled at the art of the senbon, if Naruto could find some on her, he'd have his proof.

To the girl's credit, she seemed to be aware that someone was watching her, which struck Naruto as odd because civilians weren't good at doing that, he continued staring as the girl, who up until now was picking out herbs suddenly stopped and just stood there.

"I know you are following me" she said, Naruto heard her loud and clear. "I can defend myself, and I have no business with you, so please leave"

'Like hell I'm going to leave' Naruto thought to himself before jumping down and landing right in front of the girl, she looked really pretty, prettier than Sakura and Ino, who he considered to be the prettiest in his class.

"Who are you?" she asked him after a long gap of them staring at each other.

Naruto chuckled. "Funny, I could be asking you the same thing" he said to her.

"My name is not important" she said to him, and Naruto nodded.

"Fair enough, mine isn't important either"

Naruto was wearing a headband and he assumed that she would realize that the village had called for some reinforcements.

"So you are the reinforcements then, because from what I could tell, the Jounin Zabuza-sama fought was hurt pretty badly" she said to him.

"From what I can tell, Zabuza himself was going to die until you saved him. Pretty impressive senbon work" Naruto said to her. She smiled.

"Thanks for that, I have had a lot of practice" she said before slightly drifting her kimono in the other direction and showing him her other hand that wasn't holding a basket, she had some senbon in her hand.

"We are not going to fight, but we are on opposing sides" Naruto told her as he pulled out a knife himself, preparing himself to fight.

"I don't want to fight, I hate fighting" she said to him, Naruto wondered how much of a hard time she was going to have if she did not want to fight despite having some shinobi training.

"Unfortunately, we have a job to do" Naruto told her. "We are going to find your Zabuza-sama and we are going to exterminate him, no one is going to kill Tazuna as long as we are here" Naruto told her.

"We?" she asked him.

"Yes, me and my team, you fought them right, or at least saw them, I'm going to help with the fight" Naruto did not exactly want to reveal that there was the world famous copycat ninja on their team, he didn't want to show her his hand yet.

"You must be really strong then" Haku told him. "Someone so young, tasked with protecting some innocent children"

"I wouldn't call Sasuke or Sakura innocent, they are pretty talented" Naruto suddenly felt the urge to defend his former classmates.

"I can tell you have killed, are you one of those people who enjoys it, killing people?" she asked him. Naruto shook his head truthfully, no matter how much he pretended, killing was something he was never going to get used to.

"I don't particularly enjoy it, but in some cases yes, I do" he said. "In fact there is one person, your boss, who I'd like to kill very much, but I follow orders, and I don't have orders to kill him" he finished. "Yet" he added after a few seconds of silence between them.

"Let me ask you something" she said to him. "Do you have precious people, people you love?"

Naruto thought about it, people who were precious to him. He'd say that the old man Hokage and the Ichiraku Ramen stand were one of the few people he really liked, so was Kakashi sensei. Iruka sensei was one too before he was killed.

He nodded slowly.

"Are you going to protect your precious people then?" the girl asked him, and Naruto nodded.

"With my life" Naruto said without a moment's hesitation. The girl smiled at him when he said that.

"Good, because when you protect your precious people is when you truly become strong, if you don't have hopes and dreams, you have nothing to fight for" she said before flaring some of her killing intent towards him, hoping that he'd be affected, but Naruto who was used to Kakashi level KI just shrugged it off.

"Zabuza-sama is my precious person" she said to him. "And if you go near him and try to hurt him, I'll kill you" she said to him, before slowly walking away. Naruto clenched the handle of the knife tightly, he was really good at stealth and yet this girl had caught him, which meant that she was pretty strong too, maybe as strong as him.

"My name is Haku" she said walking away, her voice fading as she finally vanished. Naruto grit his teeth, he seemed to feel a strange connection to her, something about her was eerily similar to Naruto, but he couldn't pin his finger on what it was. He sighed before deciding that tailing her was going to be useless.

-x-

"What did you find?" Kakashi asked him. Naruto remained silent, he was alternating between curiosity and anger at himself for getting detected, only Kakashi was supposed to detect him, none of the bandits ever could.

"She found me following her" Naruto said, rather harshly, Kakashi could tell that he was angry at himself. "Yes, it's a girl, her name is Haku, that's all she told me. She paralyzed Zabuza I think, so it must be around a week before he is up to full strength, we need to keep a watch on that drunken old fool" Naruto said referring of course to Tazuna.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Naruto, it was obvious that she was pretty talented" Kakashi comforted Naruto. "I'm more worried about the team, we need to train them, they will have to fight"

"No" Naruto said firmly. "She's strong, she's going to kill them, I have to fight this battle, you can take on Zabuza, and I can take on Haku" Naruto said to him, he was surprised as he was suddenly blasted by killing intent.

"Naruto, this was not a request or an opinion" Kakashi said to him, he sounded angry. "Stop thinking you can do things by yourself, when you are in a team, you work with a team, you may work with me, but you are still a genin, still equal to them, and I still am your superior, do not be insubordinate" Kakashi said to him. "Is that clear?"

Naruto nodded, even moving his head up and down seemed to take herculean effort, he marveled at how impressive Kakashi's use of the KI was.

"Good" Kakashi said, suddenly winking as all the killing intent just vanished. Naruto just stared at the sudden change in mood Kakashi had, his sensei was just as crazy as he was.

"So about training the team" Kakashi said to him, "I have some ideas"

-x-

"What exactly did you do to deserve personal training?" Sasuke Uchiha asked him, they were eating dinner, and for once everything was silent. Tazuna was sitting at the head of the table, he seemed to solemnly observe the proceedings, as solemn a drunk man could be. Tsunami seemed to be distracted, as was her son, Inari.

Ami, who was really tired from climbing stairs seemed to be glaring at Kakashi all the time, while Sakura who had just woken up seemed cheerful just to have gotten some sleep.

"What was that?" Naruto asked him.

Sasuke grit his teeth at Naruto's response. "I asked you, what you did to deserve training, why do you get to train while I get to sit here and rot with a bloody team that goes nowhere"

Naruto stiffened when he said that, maybe Sakura and Ami had some flaws, but to call them useless right in front of them was just wrong, he stared at both Sakura and Ami whose heads seemed to drop at that comment.

"You'd be dead if it wasn't for them" Kakashi finally interjected. "Do not take your team for granted, it never ends well"

Sasuke stared at him before realizing that he was in the wrong, he hastily apologized to both Sakura and Ami, who accepted cheerfully before diving right back into eating their dinner.

"As for your answer, I personally chose Naruto because I felt like he needed it more than you" Kakashi told him. "You are a prodigy, no doubt about it, but you don't exactly need a lot of help, but Naruto did need help, and he works hard, he wasn't just given it, trust me, he deserves it" Kakashi told him.

Naruto stared at the interaction between the two Sharingan wielders, wondering if his sensei had just called him stupid in the nicest way possible.

"We need to get your training started, so Naruto will be assisting me with that" Kakashi told Sasuke, who nodded. Sakura smiled at Naruto, happy that someone friendly was going to be helping, while Ami just seemed confused.

"Naruto aren't you a dead last loser?" she asked him, she didn't particularly sound malicious, just plain amazed that someone like Naruto was going to help train them.

"Yes, and you are well known as a bully, but you don't see me making assumptions do you?" Naruto fired right back at her. Ami stared at him dumbfounded while Sakura choked on her food, it was obvious she was laughing. Sasuke seemed to have a smile on his face too, all seemed well before Inari broke the pleasant silence.

"You are all going to die anyway" he said to Naruto, who stared at him. "Gato killed my dad, he is going to kill you too, why the hell do you fight, you sit there and take this so lightly, but do you have any idea what we go through, my father was killed by this man, and you sit there like nothing is going to happen" Inari shouted, crying.

Naruto stared at him, getting angrier by the second, which seemed to be happening a lot lately. Kakashi looked towards Naruto, trying to anticipate what was going to happen next.

But Naruto just laughed.

"I was an orphan, ever since I could remember, I've been told that my parents abandoned me because I couldn't be a good son to them" Naruto said to Inari. "But what idea could I possibly have, I cooked food for myself, one time I was so hungry that I almost resorted to eating from the dumpster, but seriously, what idea do I have right, my life is simple" Naruto said sarcastically.

"The one person who seemed to care about me died in front of my eyes, and it was my fault, but obviously I have no idea right?" Naruto asked him, his eyes flashed red.

"I'm out of here" he said before standing up and leaving.

Sakura and Ami looked concerned at Naruto, while Sasuke had an understanding look on his face. Kakashi stood up too, "I'll just- uh- check on him" he told the gathering before leaving.

-x-

"Are you okay?" Kakashi asked him, Naruto nodded.

"I should go in and apologize huh?" Naruto asked him, Kakashi shook his head.

"Inari is a kid who can never understand what you went through, don't be so hard on him, but you don't need to apologize to him either" Kakashi told him. "He thinks you can't do it, but you have to prove that you can right? The only way to do that, Naruto, would be to make sure that we finish the job, show Inari that there is always a bigger fish" Kakashi told him.

"You know, you might want to come inside" Kakashi continued, they remained silent for a while as Naruto pondered on what Kakashi had just said to him.

"I'll be a while, you go right in sensei" Naruto told him, Kakashi nodded before standing up and going back inside.

Naruto stared at the trees, wondering what he had done to deserve everything that had happened to him up until this point, it was like the universe was playing with him. He was in a videogame, one of his precious people was already dead, and he was pretty sure that more were going to die. What the fuck was he going to do?

Suddenly he was struck with a blinding pain, it was in his head, it was a headache he had never experienced before.

-x-

_Naruto stared at the bloody face of Haku, except that she was much more grown up. There were several dead bodies around them, and Naruto was crying._

_'What the fuck' Naruto thought, the scene was playing out right in front of his eyes, a grown up version of him and a grown up version of Haku, one was dead and the other was sobbing, and Naruto just stood there, standing helplessly._

_"HELLO" Naruto shouted, trying to attract the attention of the older Naruto, but he did not listen._

_"What the fuck is going on?" Naruto said helplessly, his grown up self was still sobbing, but Naruto stopped, his older version was saying something, he leaned in closer to hear it._

_"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT" the older Naruto screamed._

_'What the' Naruto thought, watching as the older Naruto was consumed by a red hue._

_"But guess what?" the older Naruto said, "I won't do it anymore" he seemed maniacal, Naruto went closer to his older version to try and calm him down, but his hand went right through the body of his older version._

_The older Naruto pulled his shirt, where his seal was. There was a strange imprint on his hand, and Naruto realized all of a sudden what he was going to do._

_"Oh no" he said slowly, his voice was full of horror as he watched his older self slowly twist the seal._

_-x-_

Naruto was jerked back to present, and vomited right there, his pain had gone away as soon as it had appeared.

"What the fuck did I just see?" Naruto said out loud before passing out.

* * *

**Naruto Uzumaki, Lvl 29, The Gamer.**

**STR: 76**

**DEX: 179**

**VIT: 458**

**INT: 176**

**WIS: 113**

**LUK: 500+**

**Information:**

**HP: 6870**

**CP: 4580**

******Ninja Substitution (Lvl 37): Stop in the name of the log.  
****ACTIVE: Replace yourself with another object to get out of a spot of bother. Works over 200 meters. Cast time is 0.4 seconds. Cost: 10 CP, 1 unfortunate object.**

**Observe (Lvl 40): No shit Sherlock.  
****ACTIVE: Analyze your target to find more about them (or it). Higher levels will lead to more discoveries.**

**Kunai Skill (Lvl 43): **  
**Yes, that is a knife in my pocket.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 130% with knives. **  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 100% with two or more knives.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased damage by 150% with knives.**  
**ACTIVE: Throw five knives at a singular target, causing 210% more damage. Cost CP:10, Kunai:3**

**Shuriken Skill (Lvl 30):****I throw for the kill.**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 105% with Shuriken**  
**PASSIVE: Increased accuracy of 75% with multiple Shuriken**  
**PASSIVE: Increased Shuriken Damage by 120%**  
**ACTIVE: Throw eight shuriken at one target. Increased 60% damage from Shuriken.**

**Explosion Tag (Lvl 35): True art is explosion. BOOM!  
ACTIVE: Create a tag that explodes after a custom amount of time. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 50 Seconds  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by half**

**Storage Seal (Lvl 38): Space? I got space.  
ACTIVE: Create a storage seal capable of sealing objects. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls (depends on size and handwriting), 250 Seconds.  
PASSIVE: Ink and Scroll Consumption reduced by half**

**Smoke Bomb Seal (Lvl 25) : This shit might give you cancer  
****ACTIVE: Create a seal that gives smoke when it goes off, thus temporarily blinding your enemy. COST: 50 CP, Ink and Scrolls, 140 Seconds  
****PASSIVE: The blinding effect is 75% more effective and lasts 62% longer.**

******Shadow Clones (Lvl 30): There's more of us, and we're all real.**  
**ACTIVE: Create up to 240 corporeal clones.  
ACTIVE:Create a clone which splits your chakra into two, half the chakra of the clone is split between subsequent clones. Clones have memory feedback.**

******Exploding Shadow Clones (Lvl 17): Don't touch me baby, I'm dynamite**  
**ACTIVE: Create up to 25 corporeal clones that can explode upon command.  
ACTIVE: Divides your CP by two for every clone made (similar to Shadow Clone), also costs 200 extra CP for every clone made**

**********Detect (Lvl 38): Are you all alone in the dark?  
****ACTIVE: Use your sensory skills to detect presences that can be hidden in the area. The higher the skill, the better the detection.  
****ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded**

******Level Two Fuuinjutsu (Lvl 14): I don't take your powers, I just seal them.  
****ACTIVE: Create Seals for your usage.  
****ACTIVE: Can use your own custom seal ink, seal costs reduced by 28%  
****ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded  
****PASSIVE: Your seals are 70% better.**

**********Assassination Mode (Lvl 18) : Deadly, but silent  
****ACTIVE: Go into sneak mode, reducing the noise you make, the staple of any ninja  
****ACTIVE: Assassinate a person using the weapon equipped when you're in Sneak Mode. Targets below 14% HP are instantly killed. Does not work on berserkers  
****PASSIVE: It is 24% harder to detect you when you are sneaking  
****PASSIVE: When sneaking, knife damage is increased by 54%**

**************Four Point Encampment Barrier (Lvl 3): What goes in must go out. Nothing goes in.  
****REQUIREMENTS: 4 Clones, 500 CP  
****ACTIVE: Create a solid shield of chakra that is impenetrable, the shield has HP equal to 25% of the user's HP  
****ACTIVE: Damage done to the shield is reduced by 10%**

**Dispel Genjutsu (Lvl 10): KAI!  
ACTIVE: Dispels Genjutsu by releasing a burst of chakra, more effective with higher levels**

******Torture (Lvl 1): Hammer, Tongs, and Electric Wires  
****ACTIVE: Torture the opponent to reveal information, the higher the level, the more you learn and the more creative the torture**

* * *

**No Omake this time, I heard your feedback and while some of you liked it, many others thought it was pointless to include so if you really want to see me write that kind of stuff, tell me if you would read a side story that I'll fill with all kinds of stuff from other lives, so tell me if you want to see that.**

**Now I know you think it's a cop out on the fight scene, and yes, it probably looks like that, there might be an explanation much later in the story though, you'll see.**

**Ami is not a disposable character, I know she seems to have become the way Sakura is portrayed most of the time, but she will develop, I'm not joking but I think Naruto and her are going to date for a while too. Yes, I'm serious.**

**There are more things in the pipeline that I'll explain as I go along, but I want to ask you guys another question, it's already been decided, but do you want to see Haku live or die, do you like it when she survives in general? Or is she disposable too.**

**Tell me in the review, but do not forget to leave a review.**


	10. Training In Training

**FINALLY, THE ZAP HAS COME BACK-**

**Sorry for the delay guys, but there was a great festival in my land full of fascinating festivals and mysteries, and so I was away on a nice little vacation, visiting my family and the like. I kinda had to rush this, there is a cyclone coming where I live and all contact might be cut off so I need to get this out.**

**This is chapter ten after all, it's here, I've made ten chapters, and by next year I hope to have thirty more of those, all I need is your reviews to keep me motivated.**

**It's time to address some things that concerned my readers. Before I do that, special thanks to malcom, he's pretty perfect.**

**Lack Of Actual Game Stuff- I never set out to write a story where Naruto plays a game, it's a plot yes, he's stuck in a videogame yet, but like any good videogame, immersion is important. What makes Skyrim and GTA V such great games is the immersion they give you, you feel like you're a dovahkin, or Michael, Trevor and Franklin, so same with Naruto. The game stuff was heavy because I needed to build a mechanic, which I now have, I have a set of guidelines on which I've modeled the RPG Naruto is playing, that stuff will be more in the background, it's time for the story. It's the same reason I put in all these unique twists, I want to look at the videogame, not in an aesthetic sense but in the meta sense, many people feel the videogame is the bad guy here, and I'm here to confirm that it is, the videogame is the bad guy. Why is it the bad guy? Read on.**

**Lengthy Author Notes: Lot's of people complain about these, and to those people I say-I'm sorry it bothers you? I know that the lengthy notes bother the living fuck out of you, but please realize that the chapters I put out are still 7,000 words long on average. That's a lot of words guys, there is a lot of content. And I won't be lying if I said I paste all those skills at the bottom more for my convenience than yours. I am going to try to shorten the length (which might not be prudent to say, considering this is already an author's note too long)**

**Ami: Oh God Ami, you think she is a Sakura surrogate, I don't. She's another character I am developing the best I can. I said Naruto will date her, that didn't mean that that's the pairing, why can't Naruto date someone else too? Like in real life you don't marry the first ever girl/boy you date, so why should it be different in this case. NARUTO AND AMI IS NOT THE OFFICIAL PAIRING.**

**Lack Of Humor: Being funny is difficult.**

**Omake: After this story reaches 500 reviews, I am going to post a giant update of all the Omake's (in a separate story) plus several more stuff that I haven't published, including deleted scenes that didn't make it and all that kind of crap, so if you really want it, REVIEW.**

**I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT THE TEXT HERE AND STEAMCORPS. THOSE ARE MINE, I MADE THE GAME. I AM THE GAME.**

**IF YOU SMELLLLLLLL-**

***clears throat***

**On with the chapter.**

* * *

Naruto woke up to wind blowing, a really cold wind. It was still very early in the morning. He wondered why nobody had come in to check on him yet.

"So you finally woke up?" a voice came from behind him, and despite three months of ninja training Naruto still jumped like he was a five year old child who had seen a ghost.

It was his sensei, wearing a mask and holding an orange book in his hands. Naruto wondered if there was anything else apart from reading porn and being a ninja that interested Kakashi, but decided he did not want to know the answer to that question.

"I'll just assume that you liked the cold and went to sleep right here, outside the house. The others not so much though, they thought you had passed out, so which is it?" his sensei asked him.

Naruto did not know if he wanted to answer the question, so he decided to lie. "I've been tired" he said to Kakashi, who nodded.

"You haven't been sleeping much, but you did sleep for about five hours so I'll assume that you've had your fill" he told Naruto, who nodded. He did not need much more sleep than that.

"It's four in the morning, the rest are all supposed to be up at around six in the morning, so till then make yourself useful" Kakashi told him before heading back inside.

Naruto wondered if Kakashi had bought the lie Naruto sold him, but perhaps now was not the time to wonder about it.

'That was one of the past lives I was involved in, I am sure of it' Naruto thought to himself. 'What could past me have seen that was so brutal he resorted to opening the seal'

His experience with seals had told him that trying to unseal a biju from a host's body is fatal to the host, so Naruto assumed that this was a suicide, which was something uncharacteristic of him, suicide meant giving up and Naruto never gave up.

The sun was about to rise in an hour, and that was one of the favorite things Naruto liked to do, watching the sun rise that is. He was almost glad that he could see the sun rise because it seemed like it had been a while since he had seen that happening.

'Why am I repeating my life, what the hell does this game want?' Naruto thought about it, but even with his increased intelligence it did not seem like he had an answer to the questions he was asking. It was frustrating to him, but he knew that he couldn't really think about that now, there was a very dangerous missing nin on the loose and he was most certainly going to fight them.

That was another thing Naruto was worried about, wondering if the team was going to be ready to face Zabuza, he had seen Genma Shirnaui and he did not like the what he had seen, someone as experienced as him, one of the finest the village had to offer in terms of Shinobi had just almost died, yes, he had taken out Zabuza too but the price was too much for that.

"I need to talk to the game" Naruto thought before sending a mental message to the game, hoping that it would listen. Naruto groaned as he realized how long it had been since he had actually bothered speaking to the game, it was right after Iruka's death if he remembered correctly.

'Hey GAME' Naruto almost yelled internally, and he heard a faint clicking sound before a message popped up on the screen.

**'We at SteamCorps are glad that you decided to get in touch with us, how may we be of assistance to you?"**

Naruto looked at the message in front of him. Maybe it was robotic, but Naruto just found the mechanic nature of the message to be infuriating. He knew that he needed to get done with this quickly or he would be consumed by rage again.

'What was that vision I just saw?'

**"SteamCorps is glad you reported the cross fade leak to us and we would like to assure you that we are looking into it and making sure that it doesn't happen again"**

Naruto grit his teeth, something that happened a lot when he tried communicating with the game.

'Was that a playthrough of my past life?' Naruto asked the game, even though he knew the answer already, in his mind, it was a past playthrough, just like the ones Kyuubi had shown him, and just like those playthroughs, everything went wrong.

There was no answer from the game, which confirmed Naruto's doubts.

'Dammit' he thought to himself as the sun slowly began rising.

-x-

**Kakashi Hatake Quest (7/50)**

**Training In Training: To beat the teach, you need to learn to preach!**

**Objectives: Help Kakashi train Team 7**

**REWARDS: +5 WIS, Level Up**

-x-

"Hello my precious little genin" Kakashi said in a voice that sounded so condescending Naruto was surprised that no one had even glared at him. He looked at Team 7 and if nothing else, they were all serious, Sasuke did not have the smug demeanor he usually had about him, Sakura just seemed tense, as did Ami (although in Ami's case it could be more due to the punishment that was handed out to her yesterday)

"So as you know, I spoke to Genma Shiranui for all of five minutes he was conscious" Kakashi said to them smiling with his eyes, Genma had regained consciousness yesterday but hadn't been awake for long, sleep consumed him pretty soon after waking up.

All the team members nodded, Naruto, who was sitting atop a tree and calmly watching the proceedings as he had been instructed to, just continued to stare.

'This is going to be an uncomfortable experience for them' Naruto thought to himself, then wondering if saying the word uncomfortable was an understatement.

"Now I have good news and bad news" Kakashi said to them. "Which one would you like to hear first?" Kakashi asked them. There was silence for a while, it was almost as though they were dreading to hear the news. Sasuke kept staring straight ahead, he didn't even seem to consider the question, Sakura and Ami just seemed to be doubtful.

"Ah" Kakashi said. "Decisions, decisions" there was a mocking tone to his voice, that Naruto was sure was not going to sit well with Team 7 if he knew them, least of all Sasuke.

"Naruto" Kakashi said to him, and at this point Naruto jumped out of the trees, he was hidden up until this point and Ami let out a shriek. Sasuke looked at Naruto with mild interest on his face, Sakura beamed when she saw him. Naruto smiled right back at her.

"So, good news first?" Naruto asked them, Sakura nodded, Ami and Sasuke didn't particularly care.

"The good news is that we are all alive, even Genma is going to make it" Kakashi said to them and Naruto heard relieved sighs coming from all of them, even Sasuke.

"The bad news?" Sakura asked Kakashi, almost scared to dispel the temporary illusion of calm that had started to creep on them.

"The bad news is that it doesn't take that long to die" Kakashi said to her gravely. "Zabuza is still alive, and he has a partner, a partner whose strength we have no idea about, because we haven't seen her fight" Kakashi finished.

"Her?" Ami asked with a raised eyebrow.

Naruto nodded. "Yes, I had an encounter with her, and she seems dangerous, so we should try and get dangerous ourselves"

The whole team nodded.

"So are you guys ready for the hardest week of your lives?" Naruto asked them. They all nodded again.

Naruto looked at Kakashi and grinned.

"So, what have you heard about tree walking?" Naruto asked them, they all looked at him before Ami piped up.

"You mean climbing trees with only feet, yeah, Genma sensei taught us that" she said with a slight bit of disdain that Naruto was sure came from talking to both Kakashi and him.

"Wow" Kakashi said dully. "If I was teaching them, I probably wouldn't even have taught them that by now", the sentence was meant only for Naruto judging by its content, but everyone heard it and Team 7 was not happy at all.

"He does not mean to insult you" Naruto said hastily, attempting to diffuse the situation. "He's a lazy ass, that's all. Can you guys stand on water and fight on it?" he asked them.

They shook their head, indicating that they did not in fact know how to walk on water, Naruto smiled, it was something they could work on, and it would come easier for Ami and Sakura as their chakra reserves were lower and would be easier to control.

He wasn't sure about Sasuke though, he didn't know whether it would be good for Sasuke's ego if Sakura and Ami were able to accomplish something earlier than him, so for his sake Naruto hoped that Sasuke could pull off water walking as fast as possible, because there was a lot of work to do.

"Well" he said, directing them towards a lake, Naruto smiled, sometimes things were just too convenient weren't they? "The idea" he continued, "Is simple, it's like tree walking, but unlike tree walking, you do not have a solid surface to walk on, the surface keeps rippling and responds to your movement on it, and so you have to adjust your chakra constantly so that you can stay above water" Naruto finished, the whole team nodded their heads while Kakashi just looked as dull as ever.

"Alright" Naruto said, "Another thing is that you need to take your shirts off"

"WHAT?" Ami shouted, while Sakura herself did not look too happy. "You pervert, you want to see us naked?" she asked him, glaring in a way that Naruto found childlike.

"Trust me" Kakashi said, he sounded like expending those two words was the hardest job on the planet. "Ami, if Naruto wanted to see you naked, he would already have done so" Kakashi then turned his attention toward Naruto. "Hey Naruto, haven't you seen them naked already?" he asked him.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Naruto shouted, he then turned towards Ami and Sakura, who were hitting their closed fist on their open palm. "He's lying, Kakashi is lying, he is trying to start a fire" Naruto slowly took a few steps back whimpering, before disappearing in a body flicker.

"Get to work" Kakashi said to them. "And please take your clothes off, or wear swim wear if you have it. This water walking thing involves a lot of getting wet, that's what she said" Kakashi said before vanishing away too.

-x-

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" Naruto asked Kakashi, they were hidden behind trees, watching Team 7 attempt to walk on water. "Not only did you not give them the instructions, you also got me in trouble with Sakura" he did not sound too happy.

"Relax kid, I'll tell her it was a joke later" they stared at Sasuke falling in the water again and letting out an outraged grunt. "You think they'll be fine?" he asked Naruto.

"What the hell do I know, you're the guy who has been in those situations before, you tell me"

"It depends on how good Zabuza is, if he was out of action, he might not be at a 100%, and that can only be good for us" Kakashi told Naruto.

"Anything you want me to do?" Naruto asked Kakashi, who nodded.

"Yes, take a nap"

"What?"

"I mean it, take a nap" Kakashi said to Naruto with an air of finality in his voice. He spoke again, this time much more genial, "You've been really tired lately and have been overworking yourself, take a few hours rest, today, you don't have to keep your guard up" Kakashi told him.

Naruto smiled and nodded his head, thanking Kakashi nonverbally, before getting up and leaving.

"But be careful, you might get stabbed in your sleep" Kakashi said to him, Naruto smiled without turning around and then vanished.

Kakashi stared at the spot where his student formerly stood and frowned. He knew that Naruto had lied to him early this morning when he told him that he was tired, he didn't buy that, no one can be that tired, to just pass out on the spot, something else had happened. Kakashi would have let it go too, but Naruto had lied to him, something that had never happened before, Naruto never lied, he was always honest, maybe it had something to do with the fact that Naruto realized someone of his caliber would be able to spot the lie instantly, but he had lied today.

One way or another, he was going to find out.

-x-

"How's the water working out for ya?" Naruto asked Sasuke almost mockingly, he had woken later in the day and found that while Sakura had succeeded in walking on water (much to the chagrin of Ami), Ami and Sasuke were struggling. Sasuke more than Ami, and Naruto wondered if it would be good for Sasuke's ego to see the two girls do better than him.

He shuddered to think what would happen if Sakura was able to read his thoughts, fortunately she wasn't that good. Naruto continued looking at Sasuke, who had gone from glaring at him to glaring at water, and was trying not to brood. Sasuke's brooding made the ladies swoon, but when he was all soaked in lake water, which was also very cold this time of the year, it was more comical than anything else.

"Help?" Sasuke asked him, Naruto looked at him, almost surprised. The Sasuke he knew never did ask for help, he wondered what was going on that had changed him so much.

"You need to account for the ripples, Sasuke" Naruto told him, "Don't keep the bubble under your feet stable, keep adjusting it to match the ripples, that should help"

Sasuke nodded before proceeding to try to do what Naruto told him. Naruto turned around, to see the purple haired Ami stare at him with a curious expression on her face. Naruto sighed before asking her "What is it, Ami?"

"Just wondering" Ami said scratching her chin, "When did you get so good?"

"A rare compliment from the class bully" Naruto remarked dryly, and grinned internally when Ami smiled, "I don't know if I should be proud, or worried"

"You should be proud" Ami said smiling, "Not everyday someone as pretty as me is going to be giving you a compliment" she told him.

"What do you want?" Naruto did not feel like talking to Ami, it wasn't that he was angry with her right now, he just wanted there to be quiet, he had grown to like peace and quiet during his time with Kakashi, or maybe he had gotten used to the loneliness.

"Help me with the exercise?" she asked him hopefully, Naruto nodded, he was going to be able to do that for sure.

"Alright then, the way you do it is-"

-x-

Zabuza groaned as he woke up, he had no idea how long he had been out for, but judging by the room he was in, he assumed he was out for a long ass time.

He moaned in pain, Haku had learned well, and was a beast with her senbon, he never thought that he would see a day when her skills would be used against him, but he supposed that it was all done for the sake of keeping him alive, so he was okay with that. He saw her from the corner of his eyes, she was mashing some herbs together, probably trying to make something to help him dull the pain, and judging by her expression, she had heard him moan.

"You're awake" she said, straight and to the point. "Finally"

"Yeah" Zabuza said, the pain making it difficult to speak, his voice was slightly slurred too. "What the hell did you do to me?" he asked Haku.

"Temporary suspension of your bodily functions, something that can be done by striking the pressure points in your body" Haku said, rattling off a passage that Zabuza was sure she had memorized in a book somewhere. "I hit you with senbon so that I could put you in a death-like state, if I hadn't done that, you'd actually be in a death state" she said smiling.

"Since when have jokes become your forte?" Zabuza asked her.

"Since when has getting your ass kicked by kids become yours?" she fired back. Had it been anyone else talking to him like this, he'd have killed them where they stood, but Haku was special, like a daughter, probably the greatest achievement of his life was the way he had raised her, and he was never going to tell her that, because he had a reputation to maintain.

"Konoha has called for reinforcements, there might be more than one, I'm not sure" Haku said to him, switching into a graver tone, the matter they were discussing was serious after all.

"How do you know that?"

"I met him" she said, something in her tone told Zabuza that she did not want to talk about it any further, which also meant that Zabuza was going to ask her about it.

"What do you mean you met him? Did you kill him?" Haku shook her head in negative at that statement, and Zabuza was not happy to hear that. The one problem with Haku was that she was soft, she couldn't take a life, even if she wanted to, which was not a good thing if you lived in the world they lived in, it was something Zabuza had hoped to change, and was, at best, a work in progress.

"Haku, don't tell me you left him injured and alive" he told her, hoping that the backup maybe had not seen her.

"Oh no" Haku said, Zabuza realized that she was speaking oddly, there was something unrecognizable in the tone of her voice, he wasn't sure if it was respect or something else. "He sought me out somehow, and from what little I could sense of him, he's good"

Zabuza grit his teeth, good was not good. "How good?" he almost spat out the words. They needed the money and backup was only going to be an impediment in the mission.

"Very" Haku said simply. "I don't think I could beat him, and I'm talking about with my bloodline, there was something about him" she said, it was almost like she was admiring him. "He was-" she paused for a bit, maybe searching for the right things that could describe the man she had met. "Different" she concluded, "He was different"

"How old was he, any idea about his rank?" Zabuza asked her, ignoring what he had sensed about the way Haku was speaking about this man she had met.

"No older than the kids that fought you" she told him, and Zabuza would have lashed out at her in anger, if he had the strength, instead he just groaned in pain again, for all the anger he had towards Haku right now, he was more angry at himself for being in a position where he was rendered helpless.

"Maybe you shouldn't stress out" Haku said as she moved closer to him and wiped his forehead with a towel, it had a nice smell to it, probably the balm she had made with all the herbs, Haku was good at that kind of stuff. It took effect as a gentle, cool feeling enveloped him and he was feeling better than he had felt after he had woken up.

"You are too damn soft, Haku" Zabuza told her, it was hard to prevent the adoration he had for her from creeping into his voice, and he wasn't sure if he had even succeeded (for his reputations sake he hoped he had).

"I am sorry for failing you, Zabuza-sama" she told him, there was genuine regret in her voice. "I wish I could serve you better, you know that"

As far as Haku was concerned, Zabuza was everything, he had taken care of her after her own father had killed her mother and came after her, during the awful bloodline purge that had taken place in Kiri. He had given her a home, he had raised her, he had given her hope to be the best she could be, and for that alone, he had become like a God to her, her savior. She was going to be indebted to him forever.

"Well, we haven't failed yet" Zabuza told her. "We have a week, I think. I might be in shape by then, let's kill ourselves some leaf ninjas" he said as Haku nodded, before continuing to apply the ointment on Zabuza's skin.

-x-

The nine tailed fox went by the name of Kurama, and he had seen several of his hosts lives play out right in front of him, as he watched helplessly from his cage. He was always caged, because when he was freed, the game reset and Naruto was right back to a month before his graduation exam. Every. Single. Time.

He roared, trying to make it as primal as he could, hoping beyond hope that his sound alone could shatter the cage that bound him. He often dreamed of roaming free, but after being stuck for what he was certain was several centuries nothing was as appealing anymore, nothing apart from beating the one thing that stood in front of him, the one thing that was torturing him right now, with a blue device wrapped around his neck, injecting pain into his body after every minute.

He wished the reason for his primal roars were anger, but that wasn't the case, to his shame, he was scared, and in pain. He had never thought he would feel this way, why should he, he is after all immortal. But he fact that no amount of pain could kill him had dawned on him a long time ago and was the reason he was so afraid of the OS.

**"You can't do anything" **he said to the OS, trying to taunt it, even though he knew it was not going to work. He wasn't sure if the OS was even human, because in all the interactions they had had over the years, nothing had seemed to affect him in any way.

_"I can torture you here forever, I know well how you fear the pain. After all, I have done this several times before"_ the OS replied while the fox could do little but roar as another jolt of pain was sent through his body.

**"Fuck you"** the fox spat at the OS, there was no spit however and the OS just stared passively.

_"I see you have picked up the sailor mouth your host has shown over all these playthroughs"_ the OS said, it was less a joke and more an observation.

**"What I did has been done, the only way to erase it would be to end the game, start over. But you can't pull me out of his body, because that would be useless"** the fox said. **"My extraction will keep killing him, and all your so called 'play throughs' will just be littered with the deaths of your protagonist, and nothing will ever be achieved"**

The OS seemed to think about what the fox had just told him. _"A very smart move on your part, sending your host a memory of a past playthrough, I had no idea that you could do that"_

The fox remained silent, he did not want to tell the OS that he had no idea how it had happened either, it wasn't the dammed Genjutsu he had seen the Sharingan eyes use, and he had never attempted sending memories before, and trying to send one to Naruto had been extremely taxing on both their chakra systems. The nine tailed fox did not know about many things that he, a big, ball of chakra, could find exhausting.

_"But the game will work around it. Because as of this moment, we are cutting off contact between you and the host, you cannot talk to him anymore"_

The fox was not surprised that it had done that, the game had done that several times before. It seemed to have some sort of control on Naruto's body, that was the only explanation of how he was getting all those status messages, and how flexible it all was, skills after all relied on memory, muscle or mental and sometimes both. For the game to recognize that a skill had been created, it had to have been wired to the body, so that explained the connections, and the game's ability to cut them off.

**"The damage has already been done"** the fox said, trying to sound triumphant, but finding it hard as another jolt of pain was sent through his body. If it was possible for him to cry, he would have. Instead he settled for howling, half in pain and half in anger. The OS remained impassive, not responding to the pain in his voice, or the loudness of it. It was cold, robotic and lifeless.

_"Steam Corps believes that the damage can be easily mitigated, we will work around and confuse the subject, by the time we are done with him, Naruto Uzumaki is never going to have to break out of this game" _the OS said. _"Ever"_ there was the air of finality in its voice again.

**"If you cut my connections, you put him in danger. I know you know about all the previous attempts at this game, he uses my chakra often"** the fox said to the OS, which seemed to nod.

_"What do you think the blue collar around your neck is doing?"_ the OS said to the fox, as it howled again, this time there was more pain than anger, and all of a sudden the fox realized what was happening, with every single zap of pain, he was getting weaker.

_"Technology in our world has advanced to places that your primitive elemental nations just cannot fathom"_ the OS said, it was still dull and monotone, but now it sounded mocking to the fox. _"You might think that it's not possible, but for us extracting energy is something that is not a big deal at all, and this game is important enough for us to torture you. You might think that the GAME is insignificant, but it isn't, it just isn't in your realm of understanding. All you are in our world, is mythical, and myths die, just as you will, you aren't immortal"_ the OS said to the fox.

**"Are you telling me I am going to die?"** the fox asked the OS, his strength was rapidly fading. **"You do realize that I cannot die as long as I'm sealed, I always regenerate?"**

_"Yes, and we'll torture you again when you do. We kept you around previously because we never thought your meddling would get you anywhere, but your meddling has gone too far this time, you have seriously jeopardized the outcome of this playthrough and almost hurt the world anchor, we cannot let that happen anymore"_ the OS told the fox, which howled, this time it was pure pain and agony, the last of its chakra was being drained and the corporal form that it had was shrinking, he was down to a very small fox now, the blue collar had completely encased his body.

**"World Anchor" **Kurama thought, hoping beyond himself to make the voice reach his host. The connection was going to be shut down at any second, so he tried to put in as many memories as he could, memories of pain and happiness and children, everything else he had seen in his lives before this one, hoping beyond hope that at least something would get to him. The other good thing about it was that it meant that OS, which also resided in the mindscape of Naruto was also not going to be able to talk to him, the meetings the OS and Naruto had in previous lives never went well, and he hoped that they'd stay away from each other till Naruto was ready to face it. It was a long shot, but he hoped he could do something about it. **"WORLD ANCHOR" **he screamed in his head as the last of his form vanished and the red chakra was all that remained.

The OS stared as the red chakra promptly began taking the form of a giant fox again, but this time the fox was asleep, and was not going to wake up for at least three months, and when it would, they'd repeat the process with him.

-x-

"And that's how you do it" Naruto finished. Ami stared at him dumbfounded, she did not seem like she had understood a word of what he was saying.

"What the hell" she said to him. "You need to explain these things better"

"Sorry" Naruto said sheepishly. "I'm not a good teacher" he rubbed the back of his head. Ami seemed appeased by his reasoning behind it, she couldn't expect him to be an expert teacher.

"I'll just go ask your hard-ass captain" she said, but before she could leave Naruto put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her. Ami whipped her head so fast that Naruto swore he thought that it was detached, but the look on Naruto's face probably alarmed her.

"That guy isn't really someone who'll tell you" Naruto explained to her. "Ami, Kakashi is a different kind of teacher, he does not tell you, he expects you to tell yourself, figure things out on your own. Believe me, the explanation I'm giving you is completely different to the one that Sakura or Sasuke will give you. Everyone has a different concept of how they control their chakra, of course there are some things you have to do that are common to everyone, and I can help you out with that, but with everything else, you need to do it yourself"

Ami stared at him, he was wiser that she had remembered him, back in their academy days, Naruto was a dumbass, but he had grown leaps and bounds. She found that surprising, she had been doubtful, seeing as how Sakura was smarter than her. It had led to her bullying Sakura because she didn't know how else to deal with her insecurity, but ever since they had gotten on a team together, they had grown to tolerate each other, and Ami even dared to say that she respected Sakura, she wasn't the strongest, but she tried really hard to be, and that was incredible.

Naruto was probably like her too, someone who was trying hard and succeeding. In that instant, she decided that she was not going to let Sakura and the dead last upstage her, she was going to work as hard as both of them and be as good as both of them

"Thanks" she said, her voice was barely audible but Naruto heard it and smiled.

"Don't mention it" he said. "You know if you want-

**"WORLD ANCHOR"** the voice boomed in Naruto's head, loud and clear. It sounded like it was in pain, but as soon as he heard it, he got an intense headache, he clutched his head and stumbled.

"If I want what?" Ami said to him, before turning around and looking at Naruto. "NARUTO" she said screaming, detecting his obvious distress as she ran over to him and tried to help him sit down on a boulder nearby.

**"WORLD ANCHOR"** the voice boomed in his head again. Naruto screamed in alarm and pain as he clutched his head.

"Oh my God" Ami said in complete shock. "Sakura" she shouted. "Sasuke, get Kakashi sensei, something is wrong"

Sasuke looked like he had seen a ghost because he immediately headed towards where Kakashi was, while Sakura came rushing over.

"What the hell happened?" she asked Ami, who shook her head.

"Get him some water" Sakura told her and Ami complied.

Naruto could see the scene play out in front of him, he could see the panic in Sakura and Ami's eyes, but that was interspersed with images, images of a fox, images of intense torture, images of a knife piercing someone's skin, blood seeping on the ground. He saw Kakashi run up to him as more images flashed, images of him kissing Sakura, images of him and another purple haired girl, lying together in bed, under sheets, images of two children that looked just like him, they had whiskers on their faces, just like him.

As Kakashi finally reached him, Naruto saw one final image, a fox, with a blue, toroidal device around its neck. The fox looked at him, and sneered. **"WORLD ANCHOR"** it shouted before the images vanished and Naruto saw black.

-x-

"This is not where the fox is" Naruto thought dully, this was something else entirely. The pain that he had felt when he was conscious was now just a dull throbbing. He stared at the screen in front of him, yes, it was a giant screen, he had no idea what had happened. All he knew was that he was in pain and then there was this, weird thing in front of him. It was a screen but there were no buttons on it, and there were several more screens surrounding it. The screens reminded him of gigantic windows he had seen in some movies.

"Are these memories?" Naruto thought to himself. He kept staring at the window, or screen, or whatever, in front of him. He kept gazing into it, and eventually it began playing.

_"Wake up Naruto", it was a girls voice, giggling almost._

_"I don't want to wake up, but if I do, I always want it to be with my face between your brea-"_

_"Hush" the girl said to him. "You do know that our child is right next door"_

_"Yeah, like I give a fuck, Ino. Minato will sleep through a friggin earthquake if we let him"_

It was at this point that the picture came back on, and Naruto recoiled at its brightness. And there it was, a grown up version of him and Ino (who Naruto had to admit was really, really hot when she was fully grown up. He didn't look half bad either) what struck him as odd was the happiness on their faces, they seemed serene. Suddenly, the view changed, and it switched to a first person perspective, it was as though Naruto was reliving this through his own eyes.

_"I fucking love you, Ino Yamanaka" his older version said, Naruto almost grinned, his older version was really smooth._

_"I haven't been a Yamanaka in six years, dummy" Ino said to him before she reached out and kissed his older version on the lips, and much to Naruto's surprise, he felt the kiss on his own tongue. It was good, in that moment he felt happiness, and he felt the happiness his older version was probably feeling._

"_I made sure of that" the older version said before kissing her on the lips. His older version snuck his hands underneath the sheets they were covered in and Naruto felt something soft in his own hands, it was almost like he was reliving the whole thing. He wondered if what he thought was going to happen was what was actually going to happen._

_"Again?" Ino asked him teasingly, "Didn't get your fill last night?"_

_Naruto shook his head, and Ino giggled again. "Mina-kun will wake up any second, I have to feed him and take him to prep school"_

_"I never saw the point of prep school, I didn't go to prep school and I turned out okay" Naruto said to her, Ino just smiled._

_"I think you are the only person in the entire village who'd say you are normal. I mean two days ago you almost gave poor Ayame a panic attack when you asked her to cook fifty bowls of ramen. FIFTY BOWLS" Ino said, saying the last two words louder for more emphasis._

_"Sorry" Naruto said sheepishly. "I hadn't eaten Ramen in a long time, and let's face it, you are hardly a good cook when it comes to Ramen" he said as Ino suddenly stared at him, it was a stare that promised death. "I only meant Ramen, nothing else" Naruto said quickly, which seemed to defuse the tension a bit._

_"I love you?" Naruto said, that always does the trick. It worked again as Ino smiled._

_"What is it about you?" she asked him, gently kissing him on the lips. "I just can't resist you" she said to him._

"_Baby, it must be my foxy charm" he said winking. Ino laughed at his joke, and then there was silence as they looked at each other, enjoying the feeling of holding each other tight, ever since they had achieved peace, it had become a lot more common for them to hold each other like this, but Naruto remembered the times of war, the times when Ino and Naruto had to sneak off, every time they made love seemed like it would be the last time. He was glad that they didn't live in those times anymore._

_"I want another baby Naruto" Ino said to him. "I want to raise another. Mina-kun is reaching an age where he won't need me as much anymore, and when I married you I promised myself to raise at least three babies with you, so it's time" she said to him. Naruto just smiled at her, there was nothing he wanted more than to do that. Minato hadn't exactly been planned, but this second baby sure as shit was going to be._

_Suddenly a notification popped up in his head._

_**Ino Uzumaki Quest (46/50)**_

_**One For The Dad, One For The Mum: Another bun in the oven.**_

_**Objectives: Make Ino Uzumaki pregnant with another child**_

_**REWARDS: +50 WIS**_

_**Would you like to accept (Y/N)?**_

_Naruto selected yes._

_"Ino, I'd like nothing more than to put another bun in your oven, and we are going to start now"_

Naruto saw the screen disappear again, but he could still hear sounds of his older version and Ino Yamanaka giggling, his life seemed good. Suddenly, Naruto was pulled out of wherever he was.

-x-

"Oh, Ino" Naruto mumbled as he opened his eyes, and right in front of him was Kakashi, Sakura, Ami and Sasuke.

"Shit" he said, in times like this there was nothing more to say.

Sakura and Ami were looking at each other, no doubt wondering what Naruto had seen in his dreams to warrant him moaning out Ino's name like that. Sasuke too seemed mildly curious, but the look on Kakashi's face was sobering, it was serious, deadly serious. The other members of Team 7 left the room when they say Kakashi look at Naruto, who watched them helplessly as they left.

Once they were gone, Naruto felt some intense killing intent which was immediately withdrawn. "You can't lie to me, Naruto, you can never lie to me" Kakashi told him. "This is the second time in the last 24 hours you have passed out, and I know you know why this is happening"

"Here is what is going to happen" Kakashi continued, his voice colder than ever. "You are going to tell me exactly what is going on, and you are going to tell me the truth"

Naruto gulped, it seemed like the jig was up.

* * *

**Naruto Uzumaki, Lvl 29, The Gamer.**

**STR: 76**

**DEX: 182**

**VIT: 458**

**INT: 179**

**WIS: 113**

**LUK: 500+**

**Information:**

**HP: 6870**

**CP: 4580**

******Level Two Fuuinjutsu (Lvl 14): I don't take your powers, I just seal them.  
********ACTIVE: Create Seals for your usage.  
********ACTIVE: Can use your own custom seal ink, seal costs reduced by 28%  
********ACTIVE: Skill can be upgraded  
********PASSIVE: Your seals are 70% better.**

**********Assassination Mode (Lvl 18) : Deadly, but silent  
****ACTIVE: Go into sneak mode, reducing the noise you make, the staple of any ninja  
****ACTIVE: Assassinate a person using the weapon equipped when you're in Sneak Mode. Targets below 14% HP are instantly killed. Does not work on berserkers  
****PASSIVE: It is 24% harder to detect you when you are sneaking  
****PASSIVE: When sneaking, knife damage is increased by 54%**

**************Four Point Encampment Barrier (Lvl 3): What goes in must go out. Nothing goes in.  
****REQUIREMENTS: 4 Clones, 500 CP  
****ACTIVE: Create a solid shield of chakra that is impenetrable, the shield has HP equal to 25% of the user's HP  
****ACTIVE: Damage done to the shield is reduced by 10%**

**Dispel Genjutsu (Lvl 10): KAI!  
ACTIVE: Dispels Genjutsu by releasing a burst of chakra, more effective with higher levels**

******Torture (Lvl 1): Hammer, Tongs, and Electric Wires  
****ACTIVE: Torture the opponent to reveal information, the higher the level, the more you learn and the more creative the torture**

* * *

******DRAMATIC CHIPMUNK.**

******What's up with the Kyuubi, what is happening, you'll find out eventually I'm sure. I have an ending in mind so I do have to build to that after all, everything is on course.**

******Did you like the Ino Flashback, there are going to be several more like those, different kinds, and they'll dominate the next few chapters as I go into the new arc. The Wave Arc is almost the background to the massive potpurri that is Naruto's mind. More explanations will come later.**

******I don't want anyone in the story to know that Naruto is a gamer because every other crossover does this and I don't wanna do it that way, so how the hell is Naruto going to dodge this bullet? Find out in the next chapter.**

******Keep reviewing (try not to leave anonymous reviews as I can't really respond when I so badly want to) Quite frankly I liked this chapter because I was on a roll here, maybe you guys liked it too. Tell me if you did.**

******Also if you have wordpress, I opened up a new blog there, the link to which is in my profile so do check that out. I'll update a lot of things on there so if you are interested subscribe to me. Please? It's barren but when the people start coming, I'll start posting, and that includes updates regarding all my stories.**

******So please, read, favorite, put this on your goddamn alerts list, and most of all REVIEW.**

******Also do yourself a favor and listen to The Heavy (if you haven't yet)**

******Peace, Zap.**

******-WHAT THE ZAP IS COOKING**


	11. Silence Is Gold

**Here it is guys, I hope you like it.**

**I'd like to thank my beta Malcolm for his help on this chapter.**

**I am not the owner of the franchise of Naruto or Gamer.**

* * *

_**Somewhere in the Extranet**_

The OS, or Operating System of the GAME stared ahead impassively, all around it were lines of data, color coded, depending on what was being sent from one universe to another, but today it hadn't come here to send something else, it had come here to deal with a problem.

The problem was the nine tailed fox.

In other worlds where they had run simulations they hadn't encountered this problem, in fact, there was no other world they were yet to visit which had the problem of having sentient beings sealed inside the world anchor, but this world was unique and it had been causing them problems. At first they had just went ahead with looping, ignoring the sentient beings but for some reason, the more loops were conducted, the more the sentient being seemed to affect the world anchor, and that was not good. That was not good at all.

If the AI could sigh, it would have sighed. Its masters had perfected intergalactic travel and time travel, but this was something else altogether, their world had reached a point where they were starved for entertainment, and so someone had perfected a method of traveling to an alternate universe using a wormhole. It was a really shady concept that would take hours to explain even to the most gifted of minds, however it surely was possible. This combined with time travel made it so that they found several malleable universes to play in and they even created copies of the same universe.

But the real genius of it all had to be the way the AI was implemented. A long time ago, the race that its masters belonged to had achieved singularity, the ability to become one with the computer so to speak, the ability to upload their memories onto a storage system and to be able to peruse them later at their own will. At first it was difficult, and expensive, but now it was so cheap that it practically cost nothing. The ability to insert an AI into the mind of a person on this world was simple. The whole planet, including the atmosphere, and even the atomic energy was under the control of its masters and thus itself.

Every inhabitant of the world was fused with a unique AI, for all but one person it was only with a simple AI and done in such a way that they were not even aware of it, and that was used to control them, not by controlling their thoughts, and not by taking total control over their body as one might expect, but more like an instinct something to guide them towards behaving in a certain way, because this way their reactions would still be real. The one exception to his is known as the world anchor.

The world anchor is what keeps the world stable. While the world anchor lives, the world would be anchored around them, different worlds had different anchors, some had one, some had two and others had more. This particular world had only one world anchor, and he was known as Naruto Uzumaki

Naruto Uzumaki did not get the same UI as everyone else, he got the game user interface, since the product was in early testing and the entire universe seemed to revolve around him, a lot of time was spent doing calculations, watching him make decisions and seeing other people react to those decisions, everything would be noted down and recreated, every scenario will be reincorporated. Once the game was finished several people were going to take control of whole bodies at once, the ultimate Mass Multiplayer Role Playing Game.

Naruto was in a way, the game tester, a lot of the people using their product were going to be playing as him, and if it was a success other characters would soon be included, which the OS was sure would be easy so long as they didn't have a giant fox that for some reason was not under their control.

Now if only they could solve this glitch and take control of the Kyuubi, but the OS was working on that.

"In the next five minutes, you are going to explain everything to me, Naruto. And by that I mean every single thing" Kakashi sensei's grave voice meant that Naruto was going to have to open his mouth and speak.

Suddenly a notification popped up, it wasn't the usual message kind that Naruto could ignore to view later, this one was in his face.

**EMERGENCY QUEST (1/?)**

**Speech Is Silver: But Silence Is Gold**

**Objectives: Keep the existence of the GAME a secret, failure will have grave and disastrous consequences.**

**REWARD: Lvl Up**

**FAILURE: Unfortunate Consequences**

**Quest is Mandatory**

'Of course' Naruto thought, the game would want him to keep his mouth shut about the entire GAME thing, but Kakashi was a very shrewd person, Naruto couldn't get away from him without lying and yet couldn't lie and get away, he had to resort to something else, and Naruto thanked his high WIS skill for letting him think of this on the spot, the partial truth.

"It's the fox" Naruto said, it was the complete truth, whatever happened to him had happened to him because of the fox and Naruto could tell that Kakashi believed him, it was in his eye. He could hide his face behind a mask but his eye still told a lot of stories.

"What happened? Is it the seal?" Kakashi asked him and Naruto had to admit that his lie seemed to have worked a bit too well because Kakashi was frantic, he had never before seen his sensei come this close to panicking. Naruto felt weirdly good about making someone who always claimed to be so cool, sweat like that.

"Well, I did look at my seal" Naruto said, "I didn't touch it or anything, it seems the same" he hastily added upon seeing Kakashi stare at him with what he was sure was an aghast expression on his face.

"So why the headaches?" Kakashi asked him.

"Sensei, do you know what a world anchor is?" Naruto asked him and Kakashi shook his head, this was the first time he was hearing of this world anchor thing. He had never heard of it before then.

"That's what the fox said to me, when I got the headache, world anchor. It was like something was torturing it. I think it was one of the fox's nightmares, but I can't be sure"

Kakashi didn't quite know what to make of this. Yes, it was possible that some of the fox's nightmares could be seen by Naruto, but the fact that Naruto was having them now all of a sudden was really troubling to him.

"Why now?" Kakashi asked Naruto, who looked at him, it seemed like he was thinking.

"It told me" Naruto said to him. "It told me that it was going to rest" Naruto said to Kakashi.

"What do you mean it told you? When did you talk to it? Do you talk to it regularly?" Kakashi fired off a barrage of questions.

"No" Naruto said. "The night Iruka sensei died-" he trailed off, technically the fox had spoken to him before he had, hoping that Kakashi would assume otherwise, he had gone berserk and that was common knowledge among the higher ups in the shinobi program, he was sure Kakashi was aware too. He was right because Kakashi did not seem like he was going to pry into anything else.

"Naruto, what did the fox tell you you exactly?"

"It told me that it was THE immortal nine tailed fox and no one could fool it, and that it was going to rest because I had little use for him"

Kakashi groaned. "Is that it?"

Naruto gulped, now he was going to lie, hoping beyond hope that his lie wouldn't be caught.

"Yeah" he said.

Kakashi looked at him before giving him an eye-smile, Naruto let go a deep sigh of relief.

"Thanks for telling me the truth, although you should have told me, your own teacher, this much earlier. Now, when we return we will have your seal examined, but until then, bed rest is the way to go for you, okay?"

"You mean I am not going to fight Zabuza?" Naruto asked him. Kakashi did not answer him and decided to just leave.

-x-

Naruto was in that messed up mindscape of his again, and there was no sign of the nine tailed fox anywhere, that worried him. Naruto wondered if he had disappeared. He looked at the various fragments of memories, there were at least five hundred of those fragments here, but Naruto picked one which appealed to him the most, he was pretty sure it was from the same world as yesterday's memory. He instantly felt himself become the memory.

_"Naruto, you are going to be late" Ino Yamanaka yelled. Naruto was sitting on the table and playing with his chopsticks, he was drumming them on the table, this seemed to absolutely delight his child, the apple of his eye, Minato Uzumaki, as he was clapping his hands. Minato was a shy boy, he was smart but he kept his words very close to his chest, not speaking very often to anyone apart from Ino, Ino's parents and Naruto himself, he wasn't sure if Minato spoke to anyone else very much, but he knew Minato was happy because the kid was smiling._

_"Do that previous song again dad" Minato chirped, Naruto was about to oblige him when Ino rushed in and snatched the chopsticks from his hands. Naruto stared at Ino, even when her stomach swelled due to the pregnancy, this woman was breathtaking, it never ceased to amaze Naruto how beautiful she was, and how lucky he was that she found him attractive enough to sleep with him on a regular basis._

_"Hokage-sama" Ino said pointedly. "You are not going to be setting a good example for your village if you are late to work" she said before kissing Minato on the cheek and picking him up._

_"Mom, is Shizune going to drop me off again?" At which Ino nodded._

_"Yes sweetie, she is going to be taking you for a while, as you can clearly see" Ino confirmed while pointing towards her big, enlarged stomach, "I am not capable of doing that myself"_

_"But why mom?" Minato asked her as Naruto watched the entire interaction entranced._

_"Ask your Dad, it's his fault"_

_Minato turned towards his father and smiled. "What did you do this time Dad?" he asked him. "I mean breaking the vase is one thing but making mom fat is another"_

_Naruto gulped, and so did Minato as soon as he realized what he had just said. Everyone knew just how proud Ino was of her (as she often called it) 'supreme good looks' and calling her fat was a no-no._

_"Young man" Ino said and Naruto could swear she was quivering in rage. "Go now, Shizune is waiting downstairs. Your timing is extremely lucky because I am going to let this slide" she said to him._

_"Go to prep school you little tyke" Naruto said affectionately as Ino gently guided Minato out of the house, watched him leave with Shizune and then came back inside after closing the door._

_"Ask your Dad it's his fault?" Naruto quotes her. "I remember you asking me to make another baby, what was that about three babies you wanted to raise? You didn't seem to complain when we were in the process of enlarging your stomach, if there was a problem you should have stopped me then"_

_Ino smiled at him. "Yeah, but we were having sex, and that is comfortable and feels good. This" she started while pointing again at her stomach "Is uncomfortable, it gets me hungry for fish cakes and people call me fat"_

_"Minato doesn't know what pregnant is" Naruto said guiding Ino to a seat, watching his wife stand seemed uncomfortable to him._

_"Yeah" she said as she closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling around her shoulders as Naruto caressed them. "I love you" she said to him._

_Naruto didn't respond, he didn't have to. He just continued rubbing her shoulders harder._

_"Are you trying to turn me on?" Ino asked him. Naruto didn't respond, his thoughts had drifted away from her and moved on to seeds. It was something he had discovered recently, the game had slightly glitched out when he was checking out his stats and something called seed which was followed by at least ten numbers was then seen for a while before it fixed itself._

_"What's on your mind?" Ino asked him, she had known him for long enough to know that when he was silent, it wasn't usually a good thing._

_"I wish I could tell you Ino" this was the one secret he had kept from her, she knew it existed and it was the bone of contention in almost all the fights they had as a couple before and after they were married. The GAME was kept secret from everyone, he couldn't tell anyone because he didn't know __what happened if someone else found out, and he wasn't willing to brave __the unfortunate consequences that failing to keep the GAME a secret would __bring._

_"Then just __tell __me" Ino whispered, before standing up and turning around and kissing her husband on the mouth. Naruto felt really sad, he couldn't tell her even though he desperately wanted to._

_"I want to tell you Ino.. I really do"_

_"But you can't" Ino finished, she did not sound happy at all. "What is so great about this secret? I know you don't cheat on me because you're too __nice __to do that, so how bad could it be?" she asked him._

_"Ino, we've had this fight several times, please" Naruto begged her and Ino relented upon hearing the tone of his voice._

_"Fine, but one day I'll find out" she threatened him before both of them laughed._

_"So what's up with Shizune, wasn't she supposed to be away with Kakashi?" Naruto asked her._

_"She was, but something weird happened and Sakumo got in trouble, which meant Kakashi had to go to the capital. Shizune does not seem happy at all and wants us to talk some sense into Sakumo because he's not listening to his mother and father"_

_"You think Minato will get in trouble like that?" he asked her, at which Ino looked mortified._

_"No way, I'll send him to Sakura who'll punish him for being so disobedient"_

_Naruto smiled, Sakura was a very __capable __disciplinarian, it was something she had learned from Tsunade._

_"Is it weird that my name is Naruto, which is kind of a fish cake, and you have a craving of fish cakes?" Naruto asked her. "Maybe this is the body's way of telling you to eat me"_

_Ino smiled at him. "Naruto, just because I let you write an Icha Icha book does not mean I approve of the comedy, so let it go. Besides why would you want me to eat you, I plan on doing more"_

_"Really, what is it?"_

_"When you come back from work, I'm going to" she said before leaning in and whispering something in his ear that was so scandalous that Naruto did not even want to think about it lest someone read his thoughts and be polluted by them. But he liked what he was hearing._

_"Okay, I'm taking a holiday" Naruto said before sweeping a giggling Ino off her feet and taking her to their bedroom._

_-x-_

"Holy shit, Ino" Naruto said before sitting up. He then realized he was looking right at Ami, and she did not look pleased at all.

"So when you were moaning, you were actually thinking about Ino, that's gross" Ami remarked.

Naruto wanted to tell her that he was viewing a memory from a previous life of his but was sure that Ami would think he was insane, but then again perhaps that was what it took to get her off his back.

"By the way, Sakura and I heard you a while ago when you woke up too, and I must say she does not look happy. If I didn't know her at all, I'd even say that maybe she was angry at you for liking Ino instead of her"

Naruto remained silent.

"But you know her" Naruto remarked after he digested the information, to which Ami nodded.

"Yes, and that is why I know that she just hates Ino. I always found that weird, they used to be really good friends remember?" Ami asked him. "But I guess Sasuke is responsible for their friendship ending as well"

"Both of them like him, don't they?"

"Yeah" Ami replied, "And I guess there lies the problem, they chose Sasuke over their friendship, just like everyone else"

As much as Naruto appreciated Ami talking to him civilly, he was more concerned about other things, like the memories, he was sure that it was the fox that had appeared in front of him, so the fox was trying to tell him something, maybe it was something about the game. Naruto did not exactly know what the fox wanted to say to him but he was sure that it was nothing good.

"Anyway" Ami had noticed the distracted look on Naruto's face. "I can see that you have other things to worry about, I just came by to ask you if you're alright. You gave everyone a scare"

"Yeah" Naruto said giving Ami a thumbs up. "Gonna take more than a headache to kill this fox" Naruto said to her, which made Ami giggle.

"You do look like a fox, with those whiskers and everything. Anyway, I am glad that you're fine, we're supposed to start training and Kakashi sensei said that by tomorrow you should be fit to join us as well, so I am looking forward to that" she said to him with a bright smile on her face before leaving.

After Ami left, Naruto kept thinking about the game. The fox had sent him the memories, and he had done it to warn him about the GAME. He had already known not to trust something that exerted that much control over his life, but if the Kyuubi itself had disappeared, it meant that the game was much more powerful than he had thought it to be.

'The best option for me is to do what the GAME wants' Naruto was going to have to lay low, regroup, get stronger and smarter if he wanted to be able to break out of the game at some point, but the greatest doubt he had was whether he even wanted to leave.

It felt good to him, to be able to see the rewards of his hard work instantly, quantified in the form of a number. Naruto sighed as he looked outside the room, the trees were shedding their leaves, it was that time of the year for them to do that and the wind was quick, he could almost hear it's faint whistle as it blew past him and the house. He felt like one of the leaves caught in a gust of wind, one action leading to uncontrollable reactions which demanded more action.

He needed to train and get better, he spent the rest of the night wondering if there was an end to the game or if the fox was telling him the truth.

-x-

"So" Kakashi sensei started, Naruto still wasn't sure if Kakashi was completely assuaged, but he had to have some lingering doubts. Kakashi had been a shinobi for a long time and trust was not exactly abundant in their line of work.

"What?" Naruto asked him. He was standing on top of a tree, watching team seven practice new Jutsus that he was sure were given to them by his sensei. "I need to start training" he said after Kakashi remained silent.

"True, your bed rest means that you could have become sloppy"

Naruto glared at Kakashi for suggesting that, but Kakashi just smiled it off with his eye, how Kakashi was able to convey a smile with his eye like that was still one of life's biggest mysteries for Naruto, that and the identity of his parents.

"You know that I don't really like to interfere much, I expect you to bumble into things yourself, like every other Shinobi. So, what do you want to learn?" Naruto smiled, ever since he had seen Kakashi use this move, he had wanted to learn it, and now was his chance to ask Kakashi to teach him that.

"Chidori" he said to Kakashi, who looked at him before shaking his head.

"No"

"Why not?" Naruto asked him indignantly.

"Why do you think you should get to learn the move? Because you are special? Or is it because you are my student? Do you think you are entitled to my move?" Kakashi asked him. Naruto remained silent, being reprimanded by Kakashi was not really a pleasant thing.

"You know what I've noticed about you Naruto?" Naruto remained silent because he knew that Kakashi was going to tell him anyway.

"You seem to love going at it alone. You should have told me when the fox started acting up. You should have told me that last night, but you didn't. I knew you were lying but it took me almost threatening you for you to reveal the truth, and I am your teacher, one of the few people equipped to help you"

"But Kakashi sensei I-"

"Stop" Kakashi said interrupting him, Naruto hadn't seen Kakashi agitated before but here he was. "Trust is a two way street. I understand that you did not want others to worry about your problems, I get that you've been alone your whole life and probably have had to deal with things like this before, but you're not alone anymore, you have a teacher and very soon you are probably going to have a team. You have friends that are in the shinobi program, you are not alone anymore, you have a family"

Naruto wanted to tell Kakashi the truth, but he was worried about the unfortunate consequences the GAME had promised and even though it hurt him, he realized that he was going through the same things the Naruto of a previous loop was going through, he too was unable to tell the people he loved about the existence of the game.

"I will teach you the move, but not today, not this month, maybe not even this year. I will teach you the Chidori when I deem you ready to handle the Jutsu, and I don't want you to ask me again" Kakashi said. "Is that understood?"

"Yes, sensei, sorry" he said, trying to sound as apologetic as he could. Kakashi smiled with his eye again.

"You need to learn to let people in and trust them. Don't make the mistakes I made, Naruto, because all you get in return for making those mistakes is regret and pain that never quite goes away" Kakashi said morosely before leaving Naruto to train by himself , he had some grief he wanted to wash off.

-x-

Naruto realized that he hadn't paid attention to the actual game in a long time, and now was the time to change that. He could sense that Haku was strong and Zabuza was famous enough to go into the bingo book, which meant that he needed to be prepared, not only to beat Haku and Zabuza but also to protect his temporary team members. Over the last few days he had become even closer to them than before, after Sakura had ribbed him for three hours teasing him for fantasizing about Ino (a reaction Naruto did not know Sakura was capable of), they'd trained together, with Sakura helping Naruto with his chakra control and Naruto teaching her some tricks with the knife.

Even Ami had warmed up to him and smiled a lot more at him, which Naruto wasn't sure was a good thing. He had read in a book that when girls smile at you, it means they have a crush on you. But Hinata had a crush on him and she just fainted, so Naruto guessed that maybe it was something else that Ami was happy about, never the less, they became friends as Naruto helped Ami pick up water walking and other things.

Even Sasuke, who seemed to be resentful at first had now started looking at Naruto with respect, they often trained together, despite the vast improvements Sakura and Ami had shown, Sasuke was still the only person his own age that Naruto had fought who was anywhere close to his level. And even though it felt weird saying that, it was a great feeling to have.

He stared at the skill screen in front of him, wondering if there were any particular areas he wanted to improve. He thought that maybe he should work on Fuuinjutsu and his Ninjutsu, of which he had none. Sure, he had a scroll for Phoenix Fire Jutsu but he hadn't used it because he was not sure if he had the skill to use fire Jutsu yet.

Fortunately for him, during his scavenging he had found a lot more than just fire scrolls, and he looked at the one that was in his hand right now, it was called Wind Style: Great Breakthrough, he realized that he was capable of learning the skill and so he decided to learn it, and the skill scroll burned up instantly. Naruto smiled, he was glad that the GAME made it so easy for him to learn everything, sure it meant using up one good scroll but it didn't matter because he made copies of everything.

The other skill he had picked up was Wind Release: Divine Wind, and Naruto smiled. It was time to train in both those skills.

**Wind Release- Great Breakthrough (Lvl 1) : Stand back, There is a hurricane coming through.  
****ACTIVE: Release a large gust of wind that blows away everything that stands in its path, wind speed increases as the level increases.**

**Wind Release- Divine Wind (Lvl 1) : OH SHIT! TORNADOES  
****ACTIVE: Launch tiny tornadoes that cause damage to the user, the higher the level, the higher the damage.**

Content with that, he decided to look into his other skills, including the Torture skill, which Naruto thought was going to come in handy if he ever found himself needing information, now all he needed was a guinea pig to use his torture skill to level up, maybe he'd find a bandit or something and torture that guy.

'I need some cool Jutsu' Naruto thought, smiling. The old him would probably be creaming his pants right now at the prospect of learning some cool looking moves that dealt a lot of damage, but that was in the past. Naruto knew that being a successful shinobi was less about looking good and more about actually being good. There were several things Naruto could do to win a fight before having to resort to using some Jutsu, and thanks to the game (and a quite liberal use of shadow clones), he had gotten far enough that he would say he was Chunin level, and maybe even above that by now.

'It's going to be a long climb from Chunin to Jounin if this game's learning curve holds up'

The memories of his past lives became less tempting as the week went by, and Naruto didn't quite know why that was. It was almost like he just really didn't care anymore. He had seen a few more, but they were all mostly happy memories. His memories in a life he had made with Ino were pretty great, but he had fun times with apparently all the kunoichi in his graduation class (including Ami, which Naruto found kind of disturbing)

That first memory he had seen of him cradling the body of Haku had not shown up, nor had anything else from that particular loop, but he imagined that if he kept looking at the memories, soon enough something was bound to pop up.

That was another thing that was a problem, Naruto could see memories when he wanted to, but sometimes they popped up when he didn't want to see them as well. And the more he went down into his mind's palace of memories, the more control he seemed to have over it, he could call on specific memories, like his mind could process what particular memory he was looking for and summon it for him.

The fox was missing, he had tried contacting it but apparently it was in a deep sleep, or in a lot of pain, or maybe both because Naruto was sure he would have noticed by now if something was amiss.

It didn't seem fond of the game, and seemed to know much more about it than he did, but quite honestly, Naruto didn't even care anymore. Sure, he was being messed with but it had gotten to the point where Naruto had resigned himself to being a cosmic plaything. For someone with an extremely high luck stats, he didn't seem to have much luck at all, maybe that could change, but after watching his past lives and feeling how powerful they were as if they were a part of him, Naruto realized that he had a long way to go before he could even try to fight the game.

And so he was going to do just that, the game seemed to give him the tools to get better, and even if it was an enemy's, Naruto was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was going to get better before he could fight it, but the game made it easier for him, quantifying everything, and so he was going to take advantage of that, and get stronger first.

**A Week Later**

"Today is the day" Kakashi looked serious when he said those four words, more serious that Naruto had seen him in a long time. Over the last week things had become far more relaxed, almost like they were in a dream, it was like the danger they were facing was nonexistent, a casual and reckless abandon, and today that would come to an end.

"Are you sure?" Sasuke asked him, he had stiffened, and so had everyone else in the room as far as Naruto could tell. Ami and Sakura had looks of apprehension on their faces, and Naruto didn't blame them, he was sure he had one on his face too.

"Call it intuition, which means that I might be wrong, but we all have to be on the bridge today" Kakashi told them, and his team nodded.

Naruto grit his teeth together, he had lost someone while fighting them before but it was not going to happen again, no comrade of his was going to die if he could help it. He felt readier than he had felt in a long time, and his stats reflected that.

**Naruto Uzumaki, Lvl 34, The Gamer.**

**STR: 81**

**DEX: 205**

**VIT: 508**

**INT: 205**

**WIS: 140**

**LUK: 546**

**Information:**

**HP: 7620**

**CP: 5080**

He had allocated most of his gained points to INT and WIS, by giving them both 20 points and he had put the last 10 points in DEX. Naruto looked at his hand, before carefully tracing his forehead with them. He sure felt dexterous and intelligent.

"Er..Naruto? Are you listening?" Kakashi asked him, there was a curious look in his eye and Naruto noticed that everyone was staring at him gently rubbing his forehead with his hands, which caused him to blush.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine" Naruto sheepishly rubbed his hands on his hair, resolving never to marvel at the dexterous intelligence in his hands. He looked at Kakashi and realized that things between them had been cold recently, maybe Kakashi didn't buy the half-truths Naruto told him, but according to the GAME, he had because Naruto had gotten the level up reward from the quest.

Maybe Kakashi was just mad at him because he hadn't told him about the fox before, but that was extremely hypocritical of him because he had his own shit to deal with and one look at Kakashi would tell you that his mind wasn't exactly sunshine, lollipops and rainbows on the inside.

The more he stayed there, the more he realized that he did not want to be looked at like that by Kakashi, and so as the rest of team began leaving to prepare, he too decided to leave with them, but as he was making his exit, about to sigh in relief with a feeling like he just dodged a knife, Kakashi spoke to him.

"Naruto, stay a minute, we need to talk"

'Damn' Naruto said, gulping his throat. His sensei was normally a gleeful person but last week was the first time he had seen him legitimately angry, and Naruto did not like that at all, it wasn't like Iruka getting angry, which was comical, or the villagers after he pranked them and watched their exaggerated reactions to everything, this was nothing like that. Kakashi was generally a jovial person, and when jovial people got angry, it was never a pleasant sight.

"I know things have been cold lately, and you have been avoiding me" Kakashi told him.

"You just told me that you couldn't trust me, sensei, so what was I supposed to do?" Naruto shot back.

"I also told you trust can't be one sided, it has to be a two way street. Did you trust me enough to tell me that something happened with the Kyuubi?" Kakashi asked him. Naruto remained silent at that, he had nothing to say.

"I get that shinobi have secrets, I am one, so I know that you have to keep your problems a secret, to prevent an enemy from exploiting them" Kakashi began to say, he seemed to voice out every word carefully, like he had rehearsed the speech, like he wanted every word he was saying to have an impact on Naruto.

"And I know" Kakashi continued. "I know how lonely it was for you, trust me, I have seen you sit alone at the park, playing with your imaginary friends and hanging out on the swing"

Naruto wanted to cry, Kakashi's words brought up images of his own life, his own messed up and lonely life where the villagers ignored him as punishment for something that he had no control over.

"I can't say I know how you feel, I had my dad for a while after I was born, but he killed himself" Kakashi told him. Naruto gaped at him with an open mouth, he hadn't known that about Kakashi.

"His name was Sakumo Hatake" Kakashi continued, and Naruto immediately understood. He didn't know why he hadn't made the connection before, but Kakashi never really seemed to be too concerned about his heritage and didn't publicize it.

"It changed me, and not in a good way" Kakashi told him. "I began doing things alone, I began caring about the ends, but never about the means. It was all about the mission, all about getting shit done, no matter how or what you have to do or who you have to leave behind"

Kakashi paused, it seemed like it was a struggle to continue. Naruto wanted to tell him that he didn't have to make himself suffer through this but Kakashi seemed hell bent on finishing what he had started telling Naruto.

"And I fucked up, I lost everything. I lost the love of my life, and my best friend" Kakashi told him. "And then my sensei, you know him as the Yondaime Hokage died in the fox attack, but I knew what he left behind. He left you behind, you are his legacy"

Naruto looked up at the sky, those words seemed to carry a lot of weight.

"Maybe you don't realize it, but I care about you quite a bit" Kakashi told him. "I have been looking out for you, making sure that the villagers don't do more than ignore you for a long time, and I was so excited when I realized that I'd get to train you"

Naruto smiled, he wasn't exactly excited once he realized that Kakashi was a slave driver when it came to training.

"It hurts to see that you don't tell me this, because I can help. I want to repeat this Naruto, you are not alone. You will never be alone because whether you like it or not, you have friends now. Sakura, Ami, even Sasuke see you as their friend, and today you are fighting to protect them. Do you realize that?" Kakashi asked him.

Naruto nodded, which caused Kakashi to eye-smile like only Kakashi could.

"Good, and after this mission, I'll teach you the Chidori" Kakashi told him, which caused Naruto to perk up like a dog had found a dry bone to chew.

"What? But you said I wasn't ready" Naruto told him.

"Yeah, but over the last week, I've seen you work with the rest of the team, and I think you will use the Jutsu well, but I must warn you, not everyone can do this. You have to have a lightening affinity in order to use this Jutsu, but I'm not sure you have that" Kakashi told him.

"Sensei, just give me a scroll and watch me learn that move" Naruto told him, which caused Kakashi to laugh.

"Sure, but after the mission, we have work to do"

-x-

For a bridge that held so much importance to the Land of The Waves, Naruto couldn't help but think it would be slightly.. grander. This was just a normal bridge, Naruto had been here on guard duty and had taken to calling it the 'Low Tide Bridge' because he found the bridge about as fun as a low tide.

The team seven was behind him. Genma Shiranui was on bed rest back at home, he was nowhere near combat ready but Kakashi figured that he could still hold his own against whoever might try to use an ambush at the bridge as a distraction in order to attack the house.

Kakashi was in front of him, staring at the sight of the almost complete bridge.

"Can you feel it?" Kakashi asked him

And then, just like that Naruto felt it. It started slow, but the air was permeated with Chakra and fog began drifting in, soon the entire place was covered in fog. Naruto knew that blowing away the fog would be a waste of chakra, this was a chakra induced fog after all, so the fog would just return. In the distance he could make out two silhouettes, one was taller than the other and seemed to carry a giant sword on his back.

They were all blasted with a sudden killer intent, Naruto had trained to deal with this kind of intent but Sasuke and the rest of the team hadn't and they stiffened up.

"Ami, Sakura, Sasuke" Naruto started while looking back at them and grinning, they gulped because his grin seemed to enhance his canines, he was excited and it was showing.

He turned back at them, the silhouettes were getting closer, they seemed to be walking towards them, and it was very casual, no one seemed to be in any rush today.

"Protect Tazuna" Naruto continued, "We're about to kick some ass"

-x-

**Naruto Uzumaki, Lvl 34, The Gamer.**

**STR: 81**

**DEX: 205**

**VIT: 508**

**INT: 205**

**WIS: 140**

**LUK: 546**

**Information:**

**HP: 7620**

**CP: 5080**

* * *

**Sorry for the delay people, but I was stuck in a god damn cyclone. Now I know you might find some parts confusing, my beta did too but I will reveal it bit by bit, so don't worry about things that don't make much sense, I have an explanation mapped out.**

**But the basic idea in case you didn't get it is that the GAME is kinda like real life, I took inspiration from the idea of the movie The Gamer (starring GERARD BUTLER) for this, if you have seen it, where people take control of other people. That's all I'm going to say at this point.**

**No skills at the bottom because I've finally gotten to the point where my chapters are long enough for me to not make myself feel good by inserting all that extra fluff in there (actually it's because I was rushing to finish this chapter up a little bit)**

**I also wanted to take the time to thank you guys so much for reviewing this chapter and keeping my interest alive. The reason this chapter came late was because of nature. She's a real bitch sometimes and sent a cyclone that hit the city where I go to college. The entire city was wrecked, trees were destroyed, power lines and communication was destroyed and I was disconnected from the internet for a whole week, but I was also wandering around aimlessly trying to get home for the week.**

**I finally did make it home and now I have managed to finish this chapter, please tell me what you think about it, and I promise that I'll try to make as much sense I can as possible with the first scene, just remember that this is just the first 15% of the story, a lot of it is yet to come.**

**Take care guys, later.**

**Zap**

**PS: I dropped a new chapter with all the extra content I said I was going to include, so if you want to read that stuff, go to my profile and it should be the second story (after this one updates)**


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